Last Wish
by ethereal girl
Summary: AUStory. Branches of in Season5. Cole never stopped beeing the Source. The sisters live at the manor with Wyatt and Chris who are teenagers . Leo is a Whitelighter. Phoebe is very ill and wishes to see Cole again. Some Chris & Wyatt later on COMPLETED
1. Chapter 1

**Charmed – LAST WISH (Cole/Phoebe)**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything about charmed.

**Authors note**:

This is an AU story.

Cole never stopped being the source of all evil. The story branches off in episode "We are off to see the Wizard" but this Story begins 18 years in the future from that episode.

So all that happened between the sisters and Cole in Season 5 didn't happen. In my Opinion the avatar stuff in season 6 did happen but see it as you like it. Season 7+8 didn't happen at all – because I don't know them (except the one episode where Cole was involved ;-). Leo is still their whitelighter. The sisters are still the Power of Three

This is my first fanfiction ever – so hope you like it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MEMORIES 

Phoebe came in to her room in the manor. She was around 47 and wore her hair very short – like shaved - in her natural colour with some grey streaks. Her face was pale, with dark shadows under her eyes. She was very thin and looked exhausted.

She carefully closed the door behind her and sat down on the bed. She buried her face in her hands with a sigh. On her nightstand were several bottles with medicine. She grabbed her bag and took out some small pill boxes. She took some of the pills and a gulp off one of the bottles on the bedside table and then laid down on the bed to rest.

Like often in the last weeks her mind went back to the evening she had discovered Cole was the Source. That evening had changed her whole life. Not long before she had discovered she was pregnant, but hadn't yet told Cole about it. The Seer had disclosed to her, that Cole was the source, and she had been so desperate then and nearly believed what the Seer had told her about being together with an evil Cole was possible. The memory of how she had lost him still haunted her even after all these years. The Seer had sent Phoebe shimmering back to the penthouse where Cole had been waiting for her, convinced that the Seer had talked Phoebe into staying with the Source for the good of the child she was expecting.

FLASHBACK

Cole was standing in the dimly lit room at the balcony doors looking down over the city lights.

As Phoebe shimmered in she saw a scorch mark on the ground of the living room.

She didn't know what to do, confront him about being the Source or just play along until she could get to her sisters?

"What happened here Cole, why is there a scorch mark on the floor?" she demanded, keeping her distance from him, the glass table between them.

He turned to her, a grim expression on his face. That was when she recognized that he wasn't wearing his suit but a black robe.

"I think you already know - don't you Phoebe?" he asked with a slightly mocking tone in his voice.

He approached her slowly, reducing the space between them. She backed away until her back hit the wall, and he was standing right in front of her. Phoebe's whole body was trembling now. She wasn't sure if it came from anger or from desperation. They stared at each other, their faces only inches apart.

"I love you, how could you do this to me!" she finally spat at him and slapped him hard across the face.

She was mad at him, for cheating on her like that. He just took the blow, but grabbed her wrists before she could slap him again, then bent down and whispered in her face.

"I need you with me Phoebe, I love you, we can be together, nobody can stop us as long as we don't give up on each other", he tried to reassure her.

His face was just within reach, she could smell him, Cole's smell, but at the same time not his, there was a hint of brimstone she hadn't recognized before. Still she had the urge to kiss him. She looked into his eyes searching for "her" Cole but fearing to discover just evil there.

"Cole you are the Source of all Evil", she chocked almost on her own words, her eyes getting a wet gleam, "and I won't cross over to the evil side. It didn't work for us when you were Belthazor. How could you think it would work between us with you being the Source?" she questioned him incredulous.

"I planned by the time you found me out, our child would have enough power over you to pull you to my side", he confessed, still holding her hands, but now stroking them with his thumbs.

"Stop, how do you know I'm pregnant? Did the Seer tell you?" Phoebe asked taken aback that he already knew and pulling her hands away from his.

"So you are!" Cole exclaimed tugging her into a tight embrace, a happy smile crossing his face, reminding her of the Cole he had been, before he had started to act strange.

She wondered how long he had been the Source. All the implications of him being the Source slowly made their way to her consciousness even as she was fighting it forcefully. She dislodged herself from him and slumped into a chair. His face fell and he looked strained.

"I have to leave you", she stated looking down on the floor, trying to hide her tears that started to fall down now.

"I can't let you leave with my heir", he told her with a calm voice but now dangerous undertone.

"So what will you do to me Cole - lock me up somewhere? You know that won't work, my sisters will come for me and vanquish you in the process", she threatened staring hard at him through her tears.

She banked on that Cole wouldn't kill her despite being the Source, like he couldn't when he was Belthazor. She hoped that her sisters would come soon, or that Leo would feel her struggle and orb over to get her. To buy some time she asked with the calmest voice she could muster right now.

"So who was the poor creature you killed here? You didn't tell me before."

Cole strolled over to Phoebe and sat down on a chair next to her, somehow relieved she had dropped the matter of separation for the moment. He assumed he could persuade her to stay with him.

"That was this odd wizard. He tried to steel my powers. I didn't let him of course. But he was evil anyway so I did you and your sisters a favour", he said nonchalantly. Smiling he lent more towards her, but the smile never reached his eyes which were observing her carefully.

At this moment her sisters orbed in with Leo. Cole jumped to his feet, facing them. So did Phoebe, trying to get in between her sisters and the Source. She feared that he would attack them in an instant if they provoked him.

"Cole, Phoebe, good you are here!" Paige exclaimed as soon as she had fully materialized, oblivious to what was going on.

"That greedy wizard stole the Grimmoir."

But Piper and Leo had already sensed the tension in the room. They looked from Phoebe to Cole and back.

"What's wrong?" Piper asked, floating over to Phoebe, laying her arm around Phoebe's shoulder from behind.

As Piper saw Phoebe's tear stained face and felt her rigid shoulders under her fingers, she shot a glance at Cole who was standing facing them, waiting and watching.

"Guess you just spilled the beans Cole", Paige barked also joining her sisters.

"And why are you wearing such a weird robe?" Leo stepped in.

"He is the Source", Phoebe whispered almost not audible, grabbing the hands of Paige and Piper.

Leo immediately stepped closer to his charges to be in orbing range and Piper and Paige squeezed Phoebe's shivering hands in reassurance.

"Phoebe, I know we told you he is a Demon", Paige said, "but come on - the Source? Remember we vanquished the Source some time ago." Paige tried to calm down Phoebe, not at least herself.

"So is this true?" Piper addressed Cole directly, ready to blow him up if he tried anything. He just stared back at them keeping up the silence.

"The Seer told me and Cole didn't deny it", Phoebe whispered looking straight into Cole's eyes.

"I don't have time for this", Cole growled, "There is a coronation I have to attend. If you stay with me Phoebe, I won't hurt your sisters." His eyes flashed with fire and then went all black.

Piper drew in some air sharply and Paige gasped.

"We should get out of here, now", Leo urged Piper, but she just shook off his hand and proceeded, summoning up all her guts.

"We killed the Source once Cole, we can do it again and we will if you force us to. So just leave Phoebe alone and we won't come after you - if you agree to do the same".

Cole pondered his options. He knew that Piper was right. He himself had helped Phoebe create the spell that could vanquish the Source. And he wasn't even the full Source with the coronation still ahead.

Maybe it was better to call a truce at the moment and after he got into full power try to turn Phoebe back to him again. If he killed one or both of the sisters, Phoebe would be lost for him forever. Maybe if he just waited and let the child's powers grow, Phoebe would come to him all of her own.

"Truce granted", Cole said and stepped closer to the girls, trying to intimidate them, "but I want my heir", he demanded, staring intensely at Phoebe.

"When hell freezes over", Phoebe hissed and with that they orbed out of the penthouse.

"Damn it!" Cole cursed and released a black-orange fireball at the place the Charmed Ones had just been standing.

FLASHBACK END

MISSING YOU 

Still lying on her bed, Phoebe opened her eyes again. The hurt in her body had faded away a little bit. The pills had done their work.

Since that night in the penthouse she hadn't seen Cole again. She had written him a letter making clear that in no way she was becoming his Queen. In the same letter she threatened him to come near them, since her sisters and she would vanquish him on the spot. She had also informed him, that they had already bound the powers of her child inside the womb, and there wasn't an heir to the Source to be, unless he killed them all.

She had filed for divorce and sole custody of their child - he had never shown up at courthouse. She had been glad about that, she couldn't have taken it, seeing him acting as he was just Cole and not the Source. Still she had been crying a lot about her lost love in the months of her pregnancy. But her precious daughter helped her to go through with it and start her life again.

The sisters figured out afterwards, that it had to be the Hollow which put the Source's power into Cole.

So at least she had the comfort that he hadn't willingly taken on these powers. But in the end it didn't make that much difference. He was the Source, she was a Charmed One, nothing could change that, or that she still loved him and cherished the memory of him. Sometimes she wondered if he ever thought of her, or if he had lost all humanity after the coronation.

Surprisingly he held on to the truce. Since that day the Source had never come directly after them again. Of course in their job to protect the innocents they still regularly ran into demons and vanquished them.

Some months ago, Phoebe had been for a regular check-up with her doctor. Her blood values hadn't satisfied Dr. Sadler and he had run some more tests. That was when he discovered she had cancer. Terminal stage. Already metastasis all over her body. He had given her just some more months to live, maybe a year.

Her time was running out much too quickly now. Piper was preparing potions for Phoebe to preserve her strength, but she could feel herself fading away every day a little more.

Her sisters had been devastated as they got the news. So was Phoebe. She wasn't ready to die, she still felt young and her sisters needed her.

What would happen to the Power of Three when she was gone? Would the Source still hold the truce? But as they had learned long years ago, you couldn't cheat Death. He always wins - like with Leslie, or Prue's innocent. So her sisters had been struggling to accept the truth and they had started to make plans, how they could defend themselves after she was gone.

At least Phila, her daughter, and Wyatt and Chris were nearly grown up and able to defend themselves. Phoebe had stuck to the Halliwell tradition of naming the girls with a P. She had been searching for a name for a long time until a Greek colleague at the office had suggested the perfect one. Phila. It meant "Love" in Greek. That's what her daughter was for her, the reminder of hers and Cole's Love and the only thing she had left of him.

Soon Phila would be the only thing left of her in this world too. Phila had inherited the power of telekinesis and Phoebe's talent for the martial arts. Before Phoebe became ill, they were practicing in the basement at least 3 times a week and always enjoyed this time of mother/daughter bonding.

Despite the fact that Phila was 1/2 year older than Wyatt the boys were both very protective of her. Phoebe was glad about that. Phila would have a family to turn to in her grieving for her mother. She just lacked a father. Leo had been there for Phila as a male role model and uncle, but it wasn't the same as a real father.

Phoebe told Phila as soon as she was old enough the story of her and Cole. It wasn't easy for the girl to accept the fact, that her father was the Source of all Evil. But Phoebe and her sisters had assured her, that they had bound all evil powers to prevent her from turning evil, or from demons being able to sense her.

Phila never asked to see her father nor had Cole ever tried to see her. Phoebe assumed that Phila was afraid of the confrontation with Cole. About what he would do to her, or what she would feel. So Phoebe never pushed her to summon Cole in the attic even when she had secretly hoped to see him again.

This wish gained momentum the moment she had learned that she was going to die. She wasn't yet prepared to leave this world without seeing him again. Because he was immortal, she would never in all eternity see him again and there was therefore no chance of a reunion in the afterlife. This idea which dispensed hope to other humans facing a similar fate like hers was futile for her.

"Mum, are you awake?" Phoebe heard her daughter's voice trough her bedroom door.

"Yes Phila, just come in", she answered propping up on her elbows.

Phila entered the room cautiously and strode over to Phoebe's bed and sat down on it. She was just about Phoebe's height, had her mother's hearty face form, Cole's blue-grey eyes and his dark hair which fell shiny and slightly curled down to her shoulders. She was not as curved as Phoebe had been. Phila had smaller breasts and with her trained slender figure she reminded Phoebe so much of her late aunt Prue in her teenage years.

"How are you feeling today?" Phila asked looking timorous at her mother's face. Phoebe tried to smile.

"I'm ok, I just took my painkillers. I will be fine for the next few hours."

She didn't want to scare her daughter more than necessary, but she felt time running through her fingers just like sand. She just had some more weeks then she would be gone for good. Phoebe never told the family the exact prediction of Dr. Sadler on how long her remaining lifetime would be.

But Phila wasn't fooled that easily. She could tell that her mother was shrinking. Her voice wasn't that strong any more, she sounded exhausted all the time, slept a lot but still looked like a ghost, and yet she still tried to be strong for her and her aunts.

Phila also witnessed Phoebe moaning her father's name in her drugged sleep in these last weeks. She had regularly been checking on her mother in the night. She had never known and still couldn't imagine what kind of relationship her parents - the demon and the which - had. But the way her mother whispered his name in the middle of the night, with such yearning and affection, such intensity and sadness had almost made her cry.

That was when Phila decided she was going to contact her father. Not for her own good, he hadn't cared for her till now, so she didn't need or want him to do that, besides he still was the Source. But she wanted to fulfil her mothers' wish, and she could tell it would be to see Cole once more.

She also knew the danger in it. What if she summoned him and he would just kill her? He didn't know her, so maybe the truce wouldn't refer to her. But she was going to take this chance.

"What are you thinking about?" Phoebe interrupted Phila's train of thoughts.

"Just about a boy at school who is really nice", she lied to her mother. She wasn't going to tell anybody of her plan.

What if Cole refused to see Phoebe? Her mother would be devastated and she would have given her false hopes.

"So you are in love?" Phoebe questioned her daughter smiling. At least her daughter had some distraction from her mother's misery.

"No, but he is cute - just met him in the lunch room today", Phila said, "I leave you now, so that you can rest mom. Are we having breakfast tomorrow together – you know it is Saturday?"

"Sure Darling", Phoebe answered, already beginning to feel weak and the pain coming back, "have a good night".

She kissed her daughter on the cheek and hugged her tightly. Phila clung to her mother like never letting go and suppressed the tears shining in her eyes.

"Night Mom", Phila got up and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Phoebe laid back on the bed thinking about how much she was going to miss her daughter.

To be continued…

8 / 8


	2. Chapter 2

MIDNIGHT MEETING 

Phila went right to her room, which was in the attic. Leo had separated a part of the attic to get an additional room for Phila. The room wasn't very big, just a bed, a desk with chair and a cupboard, but it was hers. They had enchanted it will all sorts of protection spells and even crystals, so that the demons popping into the attic weren't able to sense her presence or be able to sneak in to her room.

So it was easy for Phila to sneak to the Book of Shadows without using the staircase and alarming the rest of the family. She waited until the whole manor was sound asleep and around midnight she got up, dressed and slid noiselessly out of her room and into the attic.

She placed the crystals in a circle on the ground, lit some white candles and took a piece of paper out of her pockets. She was going to use the lost sister spell but had rearranged it a little bit to call for her father. She took an Athame from a cupboard and cut in her left palm. Blood was dropping on the spell but she already knew it by heart. She held the spell in the flame of the candle that stood inside the circle and recited the spell. She just hoped that he wouldn't make too much noise appearing in the crystal circle.

"Blood to Blood I summon thee,"  
"Blood to Blood bring my father here to me."

Immediately a whirlwind began to form inside the circle and she backed away from it, hiding behind the Book of Shadows, just peering over it. It looked like something materialized in the dark wind.

The candles died out and the wind stopped and she stood in total darkness. But she felt that she wasn't alone any more and raw fear just run up her spine and gave her the creeps. With shivering fingers she reached in her pockets for the matches to light up the candles again, at least one. But she didn't get that far. The crystals suddenly glowed in bright white light and she heard someone chuckle.

"Still the same old crystals? You could have come up with something more inventive by this time." Phila heard a deep but nonetheless pleasant voice.

She peered again over the Book of Shadows and saw a man standing in the circle. He was tall, well built, had dark hair and looked exactly like the old photos of her father, she had seen in her mother's dresser. He looked like he hadn't aged at all over the last years.

"So you finally were curious about me Phila?" Cole addressed his daughter.

For since he had received the call of the blood he was sure, it was his and Phoebe's daughter who had called him. Otherwise he wouldn't have come to the Halliwell's house without any demons to protect him. As far as he knew, he had no other blood relation in this or any realm.

"Phila is a good name by the way." Cole told her "I knew Phoebe was going to pick something with a P."

Phila didn't answer. She just stared at him in disbelief. This was the Source, the most evil creature of all. And he - or it - was just standing there trying to do some small talk with her. It was incredible. She relaxed a little bit. The crystal cage seemed to hold him back, so she stepped next to the book, so that he could see her better.

"I'm not curious", Phila corrected him, "I don't know you, and I planned to leave it that way - Belthazor - I just called you because of my mother".

She didn't know how to address him. Father was out of question, Source was not really a name, Cole - for that they didn't know each other good enough, Mr. Turner just seemed too formal for and not suitable for a demon, since they normally didn't have last names. So Phila had resorted to Belthazor.

"I'm not Belthazor", Cole corrected her, lifting one eyebrow, "I'm the Source of all Evil - and you correctly address me with "My liege".

Phila snorted, "You're not my liege – nor are you my father".

Cole looked at her, for an 18 year old dealing with the Source she was pretty bold, too bold for his taste. He would teach her some manners.

He watched Phila closely as he stepped out of the circle without effort. The crystals just gleamed and fell to dust. The attic was engulfed in the night's darkness again.

Phila jumped back behind the book holding on to it, shaking like a leaf in the wind.

She fumbled for the matches and lit the single candle she could grab without crawling in his direction.

"How did you do that", she blurted out as she saw him coming nearer.

"You don't think I would come here unprepared, in the house of my arch-enemies?" Cole asked her with a mocking voice, "didn't your mother tell you not to mess with me?"

Cole's voice wasn't gentle but threatening now and he looked hard at her, eyes flashing with fire.

Phila was really scared and started to question her decision to summon him and thought about calling for her aunts.

"Not my brightest idea to call the Source", she chastised herself.

He was still coming towards her and she couldn't run anywhere. She tried to use her telekinesis on him, and he stopped and smiled an unpleasant smile.

"So you have the power of your late aunt Prue, I see", Cole said, "I wonder which of my powers you have inherited. Maybe we should unbind them to see what a nice demon you make?" he taunted her.

Phila didn't know that he couldn't unbind the Power of Three spell or at least she wasn't entirely sure of it, so she blurted out with a little girl's voice, "Mum is ill."

That wiped the smile off Cole's face and a concerned look came to it.

"Phoebe is ill? What is it? There is so much magic in this house plus some whitelighters, can't be a big deal to heal her?"

Phila watched him in astonishment. The mention of her mother had brought some soft lines to his before grim face, and gentleness to his voice that hadn't been there before. His eyes had stopped flashing and were human again.

"She has cancer. Terminal stage. She is going to die soon", Phila informed Cole, her voice business like not showing any emotion at all as she tried to rebuild her composure.

"No", Cole whispered and staggered back some steps before he caught himself. He turned around and ran his hand through his hair, angry with himself for his outburst of feelings.

Feelings he hadn't felt for years which were surfacing and running through his body. Furthermore he didn't want Phila to see the pain on his face. After all he was the Source and not supposed to be impressed by the oncoming death of some witch.

He should have been thankful instead – to get rid of the biggest enemy without any effort. The Truce was going to end at the very same day that Phoebe died, that was for sure.

But deep inside he had hoped for Phoebe to summon him one day and talk things out. Now she was going to die and he would never see her again. He was the Source. He wasn't supposed to ever go up there to elderland, where she surely would be welcomed with open arms after a life lived for saving the greater good and countless innocents.

"Why did you call me in the first place? Just to tell me that? Shouldn't you know that this is information demonhood should better not yet receive? We will start to come after your family more forcefully as soon as it spreads that one of the Power of Three is disabled." He asked her incredulously.

Phila slumped down with the Book of Shadows in her hands, she hadn't thought about that at all!

"You wouldn't send demons after us, would you?" she tried, "if you know that mother can't defend herself."

She looked at him pleadingly, trying some puppy eyes at him. Unfortunately it didn't work at all.

"I don't forbid demons to go after the Charmed Ones. I just didn't order them to do it or did it by myself in the last years, call it an old weakness", Cole mused, pacing up and down the attic agitated, keeping an eye on the attic door.

He wouldn't like it to be surprised by the Charmed Ones storming in and interrupting his nice little chat with his daughter. He had to find out everything he could, to find a weakness to exploit for dragging her to his side.

But at the same time Phoebe was always coming into his mind, her beautiful smile, her unique smell, the bitter sweet memories he still had and normally hid in the back of his mind.

"So why did you call me then?" he got himself together and asked Phila once again. „I'm not a healer. Healing is not one of the Source's powers."

"She calls your name in the night", Phila admitted, "and I think she wants to see you again before she dies - even if I can not understand why", she finished disgusted.

Could this really be true? After all this time she wanted to see him? Some hope blossomed inside Cole and the Source inside him raged about that, but was suppressed at the moment. He had been trained to hide his emotions for over 100 years, so to Phila he seemed untouched.

Phila was watching him intently. She didn't want to miss any reaction by him to her revelation. But she was disappointed, he didn't react at all, he just kept staring into the void.

With a distant and hoarse voice he asked, "Does she know you called me?"

"No, of course not", Phila said impatiently, drumming her fingers on the Book of Shadows, "if Mum dared to voice her wish openly, my aunts would surely talk her out of it immediately."

"And they would be right", Cole looked at Phila. "It's better she doesn't see me again, there are wounds that shouldn't be opened ever again", he stated firmly and flamed out of the attic.

Phila stood in the dark attic dumbfounded. So he wasn't interested anymore. Good that she hadn't told her mother about it. At least she had been able to see him. It had only reassured her that she hadn't missed out on anything with him not being around.

She put the Book of Shadows back on its altar, disposed all the candles, swept away the dust of the crystals and went back to her bed. But she couldn't find any sleep – she had too much to think about.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some days later.

Phoebe was in her bedroom, lying on her bed, reading some book of witch craft she had borrowed from a friend. Phila looked a little bit more down than usual the last days and she was worried about that. But her daughter wouldn't talk to her about the reason for it.

All day long she had the vague feeling that something was going to happen today. But now it was almost midnight, the house was sound asleep and nothing happened so far. Maybe her powers were off because of her illness. She wondered if her bad health influenced her ability to get premonitions.

She more sensed than heard the faint rush of someone magically entering her room. She thought it was Leo, secretly meeting with her to give her a healing energy boost, like he was doing for some time now, without her sisters or the elders knowing about it.

She looked up and reached for her glasses to put them down, put they fell from her hand as she saw who was standing at the foot of her bed.

"Cole" she breathed not able to do anything but look at him, drooling up and down at his features. He hadn't changed at all since she had last seen him.

Still the piercing blue eyes that made her shiver, the sensual lips she had loved to kiss, broad shoulders to lean against, strong arms to hold her and protect her. Phoebe was lost in her train of sweet memories.

"Phoebe?" he asked tentatively. He had already addressed her twice but she hadn't responded at all.

She looked really dreadful. Cole was shocked. Her hair that he had loved and that had framed her face so beautifully was short shaven, like a soldier's. Her face was haggard and the spirit in her eyes was missing. She looked exhausted and very thin. Her full figure had changed to something that looked like the pictures you get from starving people in Africa. Furthermore she had aged visibly, but that had he expected, all humans did that.

"Phoebe, will you talk to me?" he tried once again, but he didn't dare to approach her, so he kept standing where he was, hands in his pockets, feeling uncomfortable and sucking on his bottom lip.

Phoebe managed to snap out of her dreams and looked up at him.

"It has been a long time", she finally acknowledged trying a faint smile, "how have you been?"

"Evil, I guess", Cole answered impishly. He couldn't really answer "good", could he?

"Sorry, silly question," Phoebe apologized, "I'm not at my best at the moment".

"I heard that", Cole said gently, stepping a bit closer, waiting for her reaction to his action. Phoebe didn't flinch at all, unlike he had expected.

"I'm so impolite, please sit down Cole." Phoebe chastised herself directing her hand towards her bedside and pushing her book to the floor.

He sat down on her bed and turned to face her. He was wearing a black suit with red dress shirt. She had always liked him wearing suits and he hadn't wanted to come to her with his robe, unnecessarily reminding her of what he was.

He extended his hands to her, offering to take her hands, unsure what she would do. Phoebe laid her hands in his with a contented sigh and thankful smile.

They sat for some time just holding hands and looking at each other, taking in the others presence.

"Time was nice to you", Phoebe started the conversation again. She hated how she looked old, worn out and ill and he still was the gorgeous man she had known.

"Demons don't age, you know that Phoebe", he said matter of factly, shrugging his shoulders.

"Where did you get that hairdo?" he asked, "did you have a training session with the marines lately?" he tried a joke to lighten the tension.

"No", Phoebe answered," but I surly would have liked that much better than dying of this damn cancer."

As he didn't seem surprised by her disclosure, and just murmured "I'm so sorry for you", and just squeezed her hands, she asked, "You knew already?"

"Yeah, I have my contacts, you know", he answered vaguely.

She was disturbed by his answer. If he knew then other demons could know to, and that would put her family in mortal peril.

"So what is the reason you are here?" Phoebe asked curiously. Inside hoping he was still in love with her, as far as this was even possible for him being the Source for so long time.

"I wanted to see for myself if the rumours are true. Still hoped they weren't", Cole admitted giving her a sad smile.

He was acting so nicely, almost as in old times that she dared to ask him directly. "Did you tell anybody? I mean down there about my condition?"

He shook his head no and she believed him. She had to believe in something right now. Surely Paige would scold her about being naïve when it comes to Cole, but she just couldn't help it. She was much too tired to distrust him.

Phoebe couldn't take it any longer just sitting there doing small talk with him.

She leaned forward stretching her arms to him pleading, "Will you take me in your arms and hold me?"

Without an answer, he immediately rushed forward, and closed the distance between them, almost crushing her in his embrace. He snuggled his face into her hair, showering small kisses on her head, pressing her against him, surrounding her small back with his arms. Phoebe clung to him, her face buried at his shoulder, her arms around his neck. She couldn't stop her tears that were now freely running down her face.

"I don't want to die", she whispered to his chest, "not like this. I always thought I would die some day, saving some innocent or when I'm very old. I mean we both have seen my old self. Now I'm going to go down like this, with tubes in my body, drugged into unconsciousness."

He held her shaking body, stroking her back, as she cried and Cole felt her hot tears run down the front of his neck. He was surprised to find a single tear of his own running down his face.

When Phoebe had calmed down she asked him, "Why haven't you come earlier to see me?"

She dried her face with a tissue and leaned back on the headboard of her bed, feeling emotionally exhausted.

"You made yourself very clear in the letter you wrote me", he answered tensely, and the memory of the harsh words in her letter still hurt him. "And I'm different now. It's not that easy suppressing the Source's powers in me like it was with Belthazor. Furthermore I'm not sure you would have wanted to see me anyway if you weren't dying." He folded his hands in his lap and looked away from her.

Phoebe pondered his answer. Would she have wanted him back, if she wasn't going to die? Yes all the time. Would she have done anything? No, she could have done it earlier, if this had been a reasonable possibility.

"I´ m afraid you are right", she admitted but then curiosity got the better of her and she asked again. "I didn't catch the part with the Source's powers."

"See these powers make me irritable, angry and violent. I really easily loose my temper and do evil – I can only control these feelings for a short period", Cole explained.

"You are doing very well", Phoebe praised, touching his arm and smiling at him encouragingly.

"That's you", Cole smiled, "You make it easier."

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note**

**shel**: you are one of my heros at fanfiction with your terrific emotional stories. I´m proud you read my story :-) - but I hope my story holds some unexpected turns for you - even when you are not disappointed if the story turns out like you thought it would.

**sehar**: there are going to be some more of P&C scenes- just read on and see ;) - and Phila will have her turn too

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**LET´S PARTY**

It was Monday morning and the whole family was busy starting the new week. They were buzzing around the kitchen to catch some breakfast before heading out to work or school. The kids, Wyatt, Chris and Phila always went to school together, Phila was driving them all. Paige always orbed to the social worker's office and Piper was going to do the ordering for the club today. Leo was on some whitelighter mission and had orbed away after a little secret visit to Phoebe.

Phoebe and Piper were now sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast and having some quality sister time together.

Piper thought that Phoebe was looking better these last days. There was some fire in her eyes that hadn't been there for a long time, not since her illness had been discovered. She wore some makeup, something she hadn't done for months.

She also was in a better mood, smiling and buzzing around the manor with her witch craft books. Maybe she got some new pills that made her feel better Piper speculated. She smiled encouragingly at Phoebe.

"You look chirpy today." She put her hand on the hand of her sister and squeezed it.

"I feel good today Piper, really good", Phoebe said, that energy boost from Leo always worked miracles for her, "And I wanted to ask a favour from you", she continued.

Piper pulled her brow up and asked, "Anything that makes you happy Phoebe. What is it?"

"I'd like to have a party with all the family and closest friends next Saturday", Phoebe released, "you know in the backyard, a private little barbecue, sitting together, chatting, eating, having fun, enjoying life", while I still can, she thought to herself.

"I think this is a great idea", Piper jumped on the idea.

If Phoebe wanted to celebrate, so be it. Since they had known of her illness, there hadn't been any celebration in the Halliwell manor. Everybody had felt it was inappropriate.

"So who would you like me to invite for you?" Piper asked her sister. She wasn't sure if Phoebe was going for a small, big or bigger party.

The illness of the former ASK PHOEBE had created some disturbance and talking in the papers of San Francisco. Many former readers had written to Phoebe expressing their sympathy for her and her family and offering support. That additional attention was dangerous to their witch job so Piper hadn't been very pleased about it, but the letters had helped Phoebe a bit, so she had had to accept it.

"I thought about you, Paige, Leo, the kids of course, Dad, Darryl. All the people we trust and only people who know we are witches", Phoebe gave the directions for her party.

"Do you expect any demon activity – did you have a premonition- or why are you so strict on only magic aware people?" Piper asked curiously. She had the feeling that Phoebe wasn't telling her all that there was.

"I just don't want to risk any trouble with exposing us while we are celebrating. You know like I do, demons always drop in at the worst possible moment. Furthermore with my illness we are under more observation that before." Phoebe reasoned with Piper.

"OK, so I will tell the family, invite Dad, Matt and Darryl. I hope the weather is kind to us", Piper said. "I will also go and buy some really good meat to make my special barbecue recipe for the steaks."

"I'll do the salads", Phoebe offered, but added giggling, as she saw Piper's shocked face, "You can supervise me of course, so that I don't poison us all".

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday came much too fast for Phoebe's taste. Saturday came much too slow for the rest of the family. They were looking forward to some happy moments together and of course Piper's famous steaks.

The weather had pity on them and the sun was shining brightly. A tender spring wind rustled in the trees and little white clouds where roaming the blue sky.

"What a fabulous day for a barbecue!" Paige exclaimed happily as she came back from the shop with a tray of wine bottles.

Piper was already working on the barbecue food with Phila. Other than Piper's boys Phila had taken a liking to cooking. She still wasn't as good as Piper, but much better than Phoebe ever got. They were working on the gravy and meat at the moment.

"When will the boys start the fire?" Phoebe asked. She was slicing tomatoes and cucumbers for the salads. Piper checked her progress critically.

"You should cut the slices a little bit thinner", she ordered shaking her head with a grin, "or our guests will choke on them."

"They are fine like they are", Phoebe protested with a pout, "That is Phoebe salad style".

Phoebe really enjoyed the afternoon in the kitchen with Piper and Phila chatting and joking around.

"Since our bases are covered in the cooking section", Paige winked at Phoebe, "I'll go and check out what the boys are doing."

With that she left the kitchen and strode into the backyard. In the backyard Leo, Wyatt and Chris stood around the barbecue, debating on the best way to start the fire.

"To bad none of us is a firestarter", Chris wailed peskyly.

"Hi!" Paige greeted, "everything going ok?"

"No." Wyatt laughed, "I guess Dad never did a barbecue before all on his own". He slapped his Dad lightly on the shoulder.

"That's not exactly the job description of a Whitelighter – you know", Leo defended himself.

"Then you will be glad that we are here", a voice from behind joined the conversation.

"Matt!" Paige turned round to greet her husband "Who says the police are never here when you need them?" Paige grinned, "Here comes the expert on barbecue – Hi Darryl."

Paige's husband Matt had been Darryl's partner for some years now. That was how Paige had met him in the first place. Darryl and Matt were investigating a case which involved magic and the sisters. The rest was fate as Matt had turned out to be comfortable with magic and much more comfortable with Paige.

The two men started working to fire up the barbecue and Leo watched in amazement at how easy it seemed suddenly.

The whole family was sitting in the backyard, enjoying the meal the girls had prepared. The sun was settling down slowly but it was still nice and warm outside. Phoebe kept looking at her watch from time to time.

"Mum you seem fidgety", Phila established, "you are looking at your watch every 10 minutes."

"I just don't want to forget my pills you know", Phoebe answered. She wanted to be as fit as possible at this party of hers.

She was sitting between Phila and Victor and chatting about Phila's further school plans. Matt and Darryl were telling stories about complicated police cases for Wyatt and Chris, who loved to hear about them in every detail. Leo, Piper and Paige were engaged in a heated discussion about Paige's favourite television drama.

Time flew by and everyone was having a great time. There was laughing in the air, the clinking of glasses and voices of happy people. It seemed like Phoebe's illness had left their minds for this wonderful evening.

Around 9 p.m. Phoebe got up, stepped in front of her family and asked for some attention.

"I'm so glad you all have come to celebrate this wonderful family party with me", she said to them smiling. "I want to drink a toast", she raised her wine glass, "to the people I love the most in this world. To you all!"

The others also stood up and answered her toast by saying "To Phoebe!"

Her sisters came over to Phoebe and hugged her. "That party was such a great idea", Piper said, "I haven't had so much fun in a long time."

"Piper's right", Paige agreed, "it is so lovely that we are all together –without any demon disruptions."

That was the moment Cole chose to flame in behind the girls.

He was dressed casually with a pair of black jeans and a pitch black shirt. He also wore a long black leather coat. His hair was spiked with some gel. He looked like he had put some effort in to his looks.

Phoebe, Paige and Piper didn't see him at once because they were facing the others, but the rest of the family did.

"Look out!" Leo shouted jumping up and pointed towards Cole. The girls whirled around quickly, grabbing each others hands. They knew Leo's voice and this voice meant danger. As soon as they had fully turned they froze in place. Paige's and Piper's face showed utter disbelief but no word escaped their lips.

"Cole?" Victor asked and reached for his glasses to take a better look at the newly arrived.

"Who is Cole, never knew they knew a demon personally", Matt leant over and whispered to Darryl.

Phila was just staring at the vision before her eyes. Was it her fault that the Source appeared at the family party? She dreaded that it came out that she had contacted him.

Wyatt and Chris had already jumped up, ready to defend their family but waiting for their aunts to act first.

Cole stood there sizing up the audience, scrutinizing the new additions to the family he didn't know. So Phoebe had apparently not bothered about informing her family that he was going to show up tonight. He was curious what else she hadn't told her family.

"Cole!" Phoebe squeaked happily and started to rush towards him.

"Phoebe!" Piper yelled angrily and grabbed her sister's shoulders, not to let her go nearer, "are you out of your mind? He is still the Source."

"And he sure isn't here for the party." Paige spat.

"In fact, I am", Cole answered coolly.

"Come on Cole, don't be ridiculous", Piper said still holding a struggling Phoebe, "Who would invite you? I surely didn't do it." Piper looked inquiring at Paige who shook her head "no" vehemently.

"Piper, would you just get your hands off me", Phoebe rebelled against Piper "please?"

"Only if you promise not to do anything stupid", Piper answered watching Cole cautiously.

"OK", Phoebe agreed impatiently, "but no harming Cole until you hear me out."

Phoebe ordered glaring directly at Paige and also sending a glance back to Wyatt and Chris. She had to be careful the situation didn't get out of hand with the emotions running high and all the magic gathered in this place.

"What?" Paige got into a fit, "Now we are doing small talk with the Source? Are you mad?"

"I invited Cole to my party", Phoebe said firmly.

Piper dropped her hands to her side, her mouth fell open. Phoebe slowly made her way to Cole until she stood in front of him. A heavy silence hovered in the backyard and the tension was almost unbearable. Leo had come up to Piper, encircling her from behind. He was shaking his head in disbelief.

Victor had finally found his glasses and was watching the scene with interest. He had never really understood what was going on in the magic world; it always gave him a headache.

Phila sighed with relief, so it wasn't her fault that he was here – good. That would spare her a temper tantrum with her godmother Paige. Still she was thrilled that Cole was here. So she would maybe have an opportunity to get to find out something more about him.

Darryl tried to explain the reason for the wrath of the sisters to Matt silently. During Darryl's story, Matt's eyes grew big, his glance darting between Cole, Phoebe and the other two sisters.

Chris eyed Cole carefully, he liked the coat, it was kinda cool. Wyatt stepped nearer to his parents – his force field was the best protection if any demon went mad.

Cole looked down on Phoebe and greeted her with a gentle smile. She ran her hand along the sleeve of his coat.

"Cole, good you're here." With that she tiptoed to press a tender kiss on his already waiting lips.

"Please tell me that I'm under the illusion that Phoebe kissed him." Piper pleaded with no one in particular.

"I'm going to be sick", Paige commented nastily.

Phoebe shifted herself nearer to Cole, put her arm around his waist and leant her head on the side of his shoulder, all the time smiling brightly. He encircled her shoulders with one arm, the other stuck lazily in his pocket and he looked challenging back at the stunned family. They wouldn't stare him down. He had never been a coward.

"I guess I owe you some explanation", Phoebe started.

tbc


	4. Chapter 4

**Explanations **

"You sure do missy", Paige threw in. But Phoebe was not to be distracted.

"I suggest we all sit down then and I'll explain it, ok?" Phoebe asked and looked at each of her livid family members for approval.

"I'm sure as hell not sitting next to him", Paige murmured to Wyatt as she turned back to the table to sit next to Matt. Leo dragged Piper and Wyatt back to their places. That was when Victor suddenly got up.

"Cole", he said, strolling towards the approaching couple,"You maybe have never been my first choice as a son in law, but it sure was you who always brought the brightest smile to my daughter's face".

With that Victor stopped in front of them and extended his hand to Cole. Phoebe gave a thankful smile to her father and pushed Cole soft in the side, because he was staring at Victor's hand without any reaction.

"Sorry", he blurted out and coming to his senses he took Victor's hand and shook it, a somewhat embarrassed smile on his face, "I was just surprised".

"That's ok boy", Victor said fatherly, patting Cole lightly on the shoulder, "you can sit next to me." He threw a glance in Paige's direction and moved back to his seat.

"Boy? Cole?" Piper whispered to Leo unbelievingly. "Now I'm really afraid Dad is senile."

Cole started to move towards Victor when Phoebe tugged on his hand to stop him. He looked at her questioning one eyebrow raised.

"You should get a proper introduction to the family members you don't know yet", Phoebe stated. Cole nodded without enthusiasm, "as you wish."

With that Phoebe led him towards her daughter. Phila caught her breath. Now she was really in trouble. Would Cole blow her cover and let the others know that he already knew her? Her heart was beating rapidly and cold sweat started to form in her hands. Nervously she got up from her seat and looked at her mother and Cole. She couldn't think of him as her father at all.

Phoebe recognized her daughter's nervousness, but she was sure it was because Phila saw her father for the first time in her life.

"Cole this is Phila, my daughter", Phoebe introduced them, "Phila that's Cole Turner, your father."

It was weird for Phoebe to have to introduce father and daughter to each other. They two should have known each other naturally. But, what was normal in the Halliwell life anyway?

Cole and Phila were staring at each other for some time neither of the two made any movement. In the end Cole extended his hand to Phila, searching her eyes.

"Good to finally meet you", he said politely. But Phila didn't miss the small smirk that played on his lips and eyes as he said it.

She stared down at his outstretched hand. So it looked like he wasn't going to expose her. That gave him a small plus on Phila's list. She reached out to take his hand and shook it hesitantly.

Phoebe was content, in her opinion this whole "the family meeting Cole again" went much better than expected.

"Good", she said, "now there are some more to go."

Cole followed her towards Wyatt and Chris. Wyatt got up first and Cole studied him carefully. Wyatt was already tall for his 17 years but he missed the build of a grown up man. He was thin and lanky. This especially attracted attention compared to Cole's muscular and broad-shouldered form. Wyatt wore white trousers and a light yellow shirt which contrasted sharply to Cole's dark appearance. Wyatt didn't wait for Phoebe to do some formal introduction.

Without extending his hand he said, "The Source of all Evil I wasn't looking forward to seeing you at my home." Paige smirked at Wyatt's comment.

"The twice blessed spoiled child", Cole taunted with the same cold voice Wyatt had addressed him with. The dislike between the two was instant.

Wyatt tensed and snarled through gritted teeth, "This kid will teach you not to be so bold".

"Don't tempt me", Cole warned raising his hand in a gesture as to summon a fireball.

Wyatt was intimidated and wished to raise his shield, but that would have given the Source too much satisfaction. So Wyatt fought the urge and just glowered back at Cole, ready to react should Cole attack.

"Drop it Wyatt", Piper's sharp voice cut the quiet.

Phoebe broke the dangerous moment by pushing Cole forward to Chris. Cole reluctantly allowed her to. Wyatt had always been the bold one of the boys, ready to brag about and try out his powers whenever possible. Phoebe had already feared that he would jump at the opportunity to match his powers with the Source.

"I'm Chris", Chris said extending a hand to Cole.

Chris was trying to relax the situation. In his opinion anyone else could be the source, as long as it wasn't Wyatt. His mother had told them the story of his future self coming back to save to world from evil Wyatt. So from what he had been told they weren't so bad off with the current source.

Chris had always been the cunning one of the brothers. To stand up to his gifted brother, he had to develop a quick mind and had worked hard on his knowledge of tactics. From what he knew from his mother Cole had excelled at it at the time he had been good and lived in the house with the Halliwells. To bad he was on the wrong side. Chris was sure he could have learned a lot from Cole.

Cole was still fighting the compulsion to turn back to Wyatt and knock him down. He exhaled deeply, shook it off and then took the offered hand.

"I've heard about you", he said amicability, "Came back from the future to save your brother." He shot a nasty glance towards Wyatt, "Sure he was worth it? Anyway, I guess I should thank you for it, otherwise Wyatt would be after my job."

Chris didn't answer and just shrugged his shoulders. Cole had just spoken his mind.

"And he is the latest addition", Phoebe smiled and turned towards Matt.

"Cole, this is Matt, Paige's husband", she introduced, "Matt that's Cole".

The two men shook hands rather shortly. Cole was unsuspecting that Paige had married. In his opinion who could ever get that crazy to marry Paige?

Matt felt rather uncomfortable. Paige hated Cole and what Darryl had told him before didn't make him any fonder of Cole. On the other hand Cole's reaction was somewhat understandable even if excessive. Wyatt could be a pain in the ass and he had wished sometimes to have the authority to restrain him.

"So Phoebe, your story", Piper demanded, "We have been waiting long enough."

Cole settled down next to Victor, Phoebe on his other side. Phoebe poured Cole a glass of wine and then took his hand in hers.

"It is fairly easy Piper", Phoebe answered, "Cole somehow got the information that I wasn't feeling so well and popped in to check on me. I was already wishing for some time to see him once more. So it just fit." Phoebe shrugged her shoulders, "

I will go with him to spend some time together", she glanced at Cole lovingly.

Cole was sitting nonchalantly next to Phoebe playing with the wine glass in his hand. But he stayed quiet. It was her family. After all they had never really listened to him if not for Phoebe.

Phoebe's answer wasn't what the family had expected. There were several intakes of breath. Matt silenced Paige by hugging her tighter. Phila's eyes got large. Her mother was going away with him? So she obviously still loved this stranger in front of her. Leo was the first who recovered from the shock.

"Phoebe", he tried to reason with her, "you can't just go with him, its dangerous", he looked at Cole, "HE is very dangerous. You know that. That's why you divorced him in the first place."

"Things have changed, Leo", Phoebe answered calmly, "he could never hurt me, you know that. And even if he would, what's the big deal? I'm going to die anyway".

Leo was silenced by her answer. Also Piper couldn't come up with something smart to reply to this. Paige was still in shock. Thankfully Victor prevented an awkward silence.

"Have you decided where to go for your holiday", he asked. Phoebe smiled at the question.

"No, but I think I'd like to go to the sea, where it is warm, the sun shines all day, you can lie in the sand", she started babbling and cast a questioning look at Cole.

"What about Hawaii", Cole volunteered, "have you ever been there?" He pressed a kiss on Phoebe's temple.

"Hawaii", Phoebe squeaked with delight, "that sounds soo great."

Phila almost got embarrassed with her mother. She was acting like a schoolgirl with a big crush when Cole was around. She wondered if they had been like that when they were together. She would have to try some time travel spell sometime to investigate this.

"So Hawaii it is. You surely will need this then", Cole teased and summoned a delicate red triangle bikini with a flick of his wrist. He gave it to Phoebe with an impish smile.

"I sure would love to wear that", Phoebe said to Cole with a sad smile, "but I'm afraid I'm in no condition or age for that anymore."

She looked longingly at the bikini passing with her hand over the silky fabric.

"Aunt Phoebe really wore things like that?" Wyatt asked his mother incredulously starring at the sexy and very small thingy in Phoebe's hands.

"Oh yeah, Phoebe always liked to wear rather sexy and revealing clothes", Piper confirmed, "but so did your Aunts Paige and Prue. Hey even I did. We were only some years older than you then." Piper smiled at the memory.

"You looked great then", Leo purred into Piper's ear, "You still do honey." Leo was rewarded for his charms with a kiss from Piper.

"Oh please, mum, dad, do we have to see this?" Chris complained – looking away embarrassed. He didn't like to watch his parents snuggle.

"What are you thinking about", Phoebe asked Cole, who looked somehow distracted in the far distance.

"I was thinking about a possibility how you could wear this nice swimwear for me",

He answered grinning wickedly.

He then started murmuring some words in a language which had to be demonic, because of all the guttural sounds. At the same time he was drawing patterns with his finger on Phoebe's forehead. She looked at him expectantly and not the least afraid.

Paige on the other hand was alarmed.

"What are you doing Cole? Stop this spell now!" she ordered sharply. But it was too late.

A dark shadow engulfed Phoebe and whirled around her. Victor looked inconveniently at the place his daughter had been some seconds before.

"Mum!" Phila cried out. She jumped up and raced over to Cole, "What did you do to her?"

Phila attacked Cole, trying to hit him with her fists. She was too disturbed to think of her powers to use on him. He got up to defend himself against his raging daughter.

"Will you calm down", he tried to get through to her, shaking Phila violently at her shoulders. Phila's trashing fists at his chest were making no impression on him at all.

"You leave her alone", Wyatt had come over and was pushing Cole's hands from Phila's shoulders, "or you have to deal with me."

Wyatt shoved Phila behind him. That made him standing directly in front of Cole. They glowered at each other.

"You dare to threaten ME boy?" Coles asked condescendingly.

His self control was leaving him. He clenched his fists fighting the urge to create a fireball and throw it at Wyatt. His eyes flashed with fire and then went pitch black.

Phila gasped behind Wyatt. That was the scary man from the attic. Not the moderate guy he had been this evening.

"Leo, do something", Piper urged her husband. She had already tried to freeze Cole, but it was of no avail. Wyatt often acted ill-considered and impulsive. That had already brought them into dangerous situations before.

"Hey what's going on here?" suddenly they heard Phoebes surprised voice.

Cole didn't turn round, not with a seething Wyatt in front of him.

"Sorry to inform you boys", Victor said to them, "the duel is off."

Phoebe got up to stand between Cole and Wyatt. "Come on Wyatt", she said soothingly, "I'm ok, see", she lifted her arms and started to hug him, but Wyatt jerked back.

"Wow! Aunt Phoebe, I'm not so sure you are ok. Just take a closer look at yourself."

Phoebe turned around to find Cole smiling radiantly at her. His eyes had gone back to normal. "So what's all the excitement about?" she asked Cole.

"I don't believe that", Darryl breathed.

This had gotten much too wired for Darryl's taste. He had come over for some nice barbecue, which it had been until the moment Cole had arrived. He bid the family good night and excused himself.

Phoebe looked around and found all her family staring at her, their eyes almost popping out of their heads.

"Ok what is it today", Phoebe complained, "I already earned this look from you once. Don't you think that's enough for one day?"

"You are so beautiful", Cole flattered her as he pressed a kiss on her bare shoulders and embraced her from behind.

That startled Phoebe. As far as she knew her shoulder hadn't been naked some seconds before. She finally looked down her body and held her breath. She looked at her arms, touched her face and head with her hands. She found long blond hair between her fingers.

She also knew the outfit she was wearing. These were the clothes she had been wearing the evening at P3 when she and Cole had shared their very first kiss. But the best part was it wasn't only the outfit. She looked exactly like she had looked then.

"That's not fair", Paige protested, "I'm the youngest, and I should look the youngest."

"You look hot", Chris grinned and Matt whistled, which got him a slap from Paige.

"Turn her back Cole", Piper demanded, "What sick joke of yours is this?"

"Now I feel really old", Victor muttered.

"What's the problem", Phoebe asked innocently, "I love it. I mean I love me. And it doesn't hurt anybody."

"And what about personal gain?" Wyatt considered. He was stunned how his aunt looked. Of course he had seen pictures of all of the sisters when they had been young. But in the flesh it was something completely different. Phoebe was the kind of girl he would love to ask out, but wouldn't dare to.

"I'm all about personal gain", Cole informed them and put an additional kiss on Phoebe's neck, "Never experienced any backfire. That's the advantage of being evil. You do as you please."

Cole got slightly aroused by the sight before his eyes. From behind Phoebe he had a perfect view at her inviting décolleté. He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled her scent deeply, his heart beating faster.

"I think Cole is right", Leo said, "Since Cole cast the spell, there will be no backfire on Phoebe. "

"Just great", Paige snorted, "so she gets away with it, just like that!"

"Don't get so exited Paige", Phoebe calmed her down, "I won't be running around the neighbourhood like this. I just hold on to this appearance as long as I'm with Cole."

She leaned deeper against his chest and turned her head to invite Cole to kiss her. Without hesitation he captured her lips fervently. She reached up to grab his head and pulled him down by his hair, while his hands started running up and down her body giving her shivers.

Phoebe hadn't felt like that in a long time. A hot desire ran through her body and made her skin tingling. Since her illness had started she hadn't had any interest in intimate activities, besides her last relationship had ended some time before she even had learned about the cancer.

"Ahem Phoebe", Victor cleared his throat; "There are still teenagers here. So maybe you could postpone your reunion?"

Phoebe blushed. She had really forgotten about the whole family watching their encounter. She withdrew herself from Cole, whose eyes burnt with unconcealed lust, his breath faster than usual and his hair ruffled now.

"Looks like we are back to old times", Piper sighed.

Phoebe and Cole making out in the open in the Halliwell manor had been an unpopular habit in the past. They used to tease Piper about being prudish, if she had complained about that.

Phila had watched her parents in amazement. Cole turned her mother into a totally different person. She appeared to be carefree, wild and so alive and happy. Phila had to admit Phoebe looked gorgeous. Her red top emphasized her full breast, delicate shoulders and small waist. Phoebe's big brown eyes were on Cole and her still blushed cheeks made her look even younger.

No wonder Phoebe always had so many admirers Phila thought. But still from all the men her mother had charmed, it was him she had never been able to forget. Somehow Phila could understand it better now, after she had seen the sparks flying between them.

Wyatt on the other hand hated to see his favourite aunt making out with the demon. He was really disgusted. And he could tell from the look on Paige's face, that she felt the same. But a look at his mother's face refrained him from saying or doing anything against it.

Phoebe ordered herself to take her eyes off Cole and she faced the family again.

"I will leave with Cole now", she said determined not to be interrupted again, "and I won't come back."

Phoebe was relieved. Finally it was all out. She had dreaded this revelation since she had decided to do it. Phila got scared.

"What do you mean, you won't be back?" she panicked. Phoebe sighed heavily and went to her daughter to comfort her.

"I will spend my last days with Cole. I don't have much time left, much less than you all know", Phoebe disclosed.

Phila starred at her mother. She couldn't believe it. Phoebe favoured being with Cole over being with her and her family. Her mother preferred being with the most evil creature instead with the people who had loved her the last 20 years. Tears started to spill out of her eyes.

"You love him more than me!" Phila cried, broke away from Phoebe and ran into the manor, the backdoor slammed shut behind her.

From the moment Cole had appeared at the manor, Piper had dreaded that he was back in their lives. At least as long as Phoebe would be alive. Now it looked like he was taking Phoebe away from them. She didn't want to push Phoebe further away from the family so she asked warily "Are you serious?"

Phoebe sat down on Phila's chair and looked up to the manor where her daughter had to be.

"Yes, Piper", Phoebe answered exhausted, "I have been thinking about it for some time, and decided I earned some time with Cole. I spent my life saving innocents and working for the greater good", she explained, "I put my personal happiness with Cole aside for we were on different sides. Now this doesn't matter to me any more. I will be gone soon and I want to spend my last days with him. Can't you understand that?"

Because neither Piper nor anybody else said something, Phoebe continued.

"And I don't want you to see me in that much pain. It won't be pretty in the end. I know it. I have visited a hospice myself. I want to spare you going through this" , Phoebe begged for her family's understanding, "Cole agreed to bring back my body for the funeral."

"But we would love to care for you", Piper opposed, "we love you."

"I know Piper", Phoebe walked over to her older sister and hugged her. "I love you too. That's why I'm doing it. I want you to remember me like I was this evening. Happy and well. I wanted you to arrange this farewell party for me, so that you have a beautiful last memory of me."

"So you planned it all from the start?" Paige spoke at last.

"No, as I said, Cole popped in some days ago, that's when the idea started forming in my head", Phoebe said.

Cole was standing on the same spot where Phoebe had left him, following the conversation attentively. He knew it wasn't easy for Phoebe to leave her family, but it had been her own idea. Of course he had been delighted when she had told him. He had arranged his absence in the underworld for some days. His underlings thought he was on a secret mission.

"Do you give me your blessing?" Phoebe asked her sisters.

It was very important for Phoebe that her family supported her decision.

Piper had tears in her eyes but she said, "You have my blessing Phoebe. Be happy."

Paige fought with herself. She hated Cole. But if it was he who could relieve Phoebe's last days, who was she to disobey.

"I can't say I like it, but I love you and want the best for you. And if you think this is him", she looked at Cole bitterly, "so be it."

"Thank you Paige", Phoebe whispered gratefully, "Will you look after my daughter?"

"Of course Phoebe", Paige assured her, "I'm her godmother, that's what I'm here for. I'll care for her as if she was mine."

"I have to talk to Phila", Phoebe said and stood up, "Cole will you wait for me please, I won't be long. And no fighting while I'm away". With that she walked towards the manor and disappeared into the house.

Cole nodded and went back to his place next to Victor. He sat down and stared at the embers of the barbecue. No one was in the mood to talk. Everyone was pondering their own thoughts. Piper and Paige had taken shelter in the arms of their husbands seeking comfort. Wyatt and Chris whispered to each other about the implications of Phoebe's decision.

Victor sat lost in his chair. His youngest daughter, his sunshine, was leaving him. He felt old and worn out. A parent shouldn't have to watch his own child die. That wasn't the right order of things. He had already lost Prue and now Phoebe was going before her time. Victor touched Cole's arm and roused him from his thoughts.

"You be good to her, promise me", Victor said.

"Promised", Cole answered.

A while later Phoebe came out of the manor again. Her eyes were red. Cole could tell she had been crying. He met her halfway and she fell into his arms.

"I'm ready Cole, let's go", she told him with a husky voice.

She waved a last time at her family and then they flamed out of the manor's backyard and out of the life of the Halliwell family.

tbc


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note:**

**ColePhoebe4eva:** here comes something lighter for the weekend

**sehar:** can´t promise a happy ending.. you have to read on and find out ;)

-------------------------------------------------------

**ALMOST HEAVEN**

Cole flamed them right to Maui. They checked in at one of the most expensive hotels in Wailea and used fake names so nobody could accidentally find out their whereabouts. Phoebe hadn't taken any trunks with her only her purse and her pain killers. She already wondered why the throbbing pain hadn't returned yet. Of course Leo had given her a healing energy boost in the afternoon and she had taken her pills regularly but still it was weird. As they reached their suite she threw herself right on to the bed and fell asleep some minutes later. It had been an emotionally exhausting day. When Cole returned with some champagne to celebrate the start of their time together she was sound asleep. He tucked her in and after a longing look at her he flamed out of the room.

Phoebe woke up the next day in the morning and found him next to her in the bed. He was propped on one elbow and gazing down on her lovingly.

"Morning", she cooed snuggling up closer to him, "sorry that I fell asleep so abruptly, I was pretty exhausted yesterday." She put her head on his shoulder and played with his chest hair.

"Never mind", he answered sympathetically, "I needed some sleep myself." He ruffled her hair with his free hand.

Phoebe discovered that she still wore the clothes from yesterday evening. Cole however was in shorts.

"Why didn't you take my clothes off?" she asked him.

"I wasn't sure you would want me to", he answered shrugging. "We haven't been together for a long time. I wasn't sure you were comfortable with it. Besides you looked like you needed the sleep and I didn't want to wake you up."

"You are so sweet", Phoebe placed a kiss on his bare chest. "I'll go take a shower and then we can start to discover the island."

Phoebe jumped off the bed, she felt full of energy. No trace of the pain was to be found in her body. That irritated her for a moment but then a more important thought pushed it in the background.

"Hey, we need to buy me some new clothes", she complained wickedly, „since you changed my dress size I have nothing to wear. What do you say?"

"You still have the bikini", he suggested slyly.

"If I show you the bikini now, I won't see anything of the island", Phoebe countered playfully, her gaze travelling over his exposed upper body.

Cole smiled at her. That was his Phoebe alive and kicking. "At least I'd like to have some breakfast first, after that I'll do whatever you want." He gave up. "Even go shopping with you." He faked a distressed face.

"Yay", Phoebe exclaimed and vanished into the bathroom.

As he dressed himself, Cole heard the water of the shower and then Phoebes voice,

"Cole, could you conjure some underwear and a sleazy dress for me? I surely can't go shopping or to breakfast all naked."

"I wouldn't mind", he shouted back laughing.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Cole and Phoebe had been exploring Maui for some days now. They had found some secluded beaches for romantic walks and tried snorkelling and surfing. Phoebe even had commanded Cole to get up at 5.a.m. to see the sunrise at the Haleakala Crater. It had been wonderful but so chilly that Cole had flamed them directly to a hot Jacuzzi afterwards. Phoebe had already taken many pictures of them both. She was working on a photo album for Phila. Her daughter should have at least a happy memory of her parents. At the moment Phoebe laid in bed not fully awake yet.

"Why couldn't life always be this easy?" Phoebe thought while Cole was nibbling at her ear.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The Halliwell family was worried. Phoebe had taken them by surprise and then had left in a rush. Now they weren't sure they had done the right thing to let her go with Cole. The family council had been debating about it for some days and in the end Paige had been appointed to go and see how Phoebe was doing. Leo had no problem locating Phoebe, as it seemed Cole hadn't shielded them from being found. That in itself calmed Piper down a bit. So maybe the Source wasn't up to something and her concern was unjustified.

Paige had figured that by 10 a.m. Phoebe should already be awake and out of bed so she chose this time to orb into the suite. She carefully avoided to orb into to bedroom and picked the living room instead. She orbed in right behind the door of the balcony and froze in place, stunned.

Paige had full sight on a man's bare backside. Had she orbed to the wrong suite? She wasn't sure it was Cole. She had never seen him in his birthday suit, but from the built it was a chance that it was him. Two definitely female legs encircled his waist and she could also see two arms entwined around his neck, pulling his head down. The rest of the woman, the man had pinned against the locker, wasn't to be seen behind his broad frame. They were moving rhythmically against each other and Paige could hear their moans and heavy breathing. Paige pondered what to do, when she discovered some scratches on his back. They looked nasty. Surely Phoebe wouldn't do anything like this to Cole, would she? Paige was almost certain that she was in the wrong apartment now. The moment she started to orb out she heard someone shout angrily.

"Paige!"

"Shit", Paige swore and made a grimace, so these were definitely Phoebe and Cole.

The moment Cole had moved a little bit to the side Phoebe had spotted her sister standing at the balcony door, starring with wide eyes at their lovemaking.

"Hi", Paige said uneasy and waved at Phoebe who was glaring at her over Cole's shoulder. Cole also turned his head in Paige's direction looking daggers at her.

"I aehm, we were worried about you", Paige said with a small voice, feeling very uncomfortable, "I was sent to look after you".

"You could have used the front door!" Cole roared, disentangling himself from Phoebe and turning round. He was shaking with rage.

Now Paige had a full frontal view of him and starred shocked at him. Cole startled her as he started to move towards her oblivious to the fact that he wasn't wearing anything. Her glance slid downwards to his groin. He followed her look with his gaze.

"See anything interesting?" he mocked.

He was just so mad at Paige. Paige looked at the approaching Cole rather unbelievingly. She ordered herself to not look any deeper than his chest anymore. He stopped right in front of her, grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her. She looked defiantly in his livid eyes.

"The first time you orbed into my apartment interrupting Phoebe and my intimacy I thought it was accidentally", Cole snarled at her, "but now I'm sure you are Peeping Tom."

"What?" Paige was thunderstruck, "You are crazy. Let go of me", she demanded and struggled to shove his hands off her shoulders. She didn't want to touch his sweating all naked body at all. He didn't let go of her anyway.

"Or", he taunted, "were you looking for a three-way? If that is the case I have to inform you that I'm not in the mood." With that he let her go abruptly and turned in the direction of the bathroom. Paige rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I can clearly see that", Paige barked after him.

"When I have finished my shower you better not be here anymore." Cole growled through gritted teeth at Paige before he slammed the bathroom door shut behind him.

Phoebe had found herself a shirt of Cole's to wear in the meantime. She came over to Paige who still stood at the place she had orbed in.

"Paige, you know better than to orb into our private rooms like that", Phoebe dressed her sister down, "You know he hates it. Especially if you do it. You two have never been on really good terms."

"Sorry", Paige pleaded,"I deliberately avoided the bathroom and the bedroom. I thought you would be already getting ready for the day."

"It's ok Paige, just don't do it again, promise", Phoebe consoled her sister, "I'll handle the big bad demon." She smiled confidently.

"Promised", Paige assured, "I sure as hell won't orb anywhere near you two in the next decade."

"Still, I'm happy to see you", Phoebe hugged her sister, "How are you all doing? I know I left in a rush but I was afraid you wouldn't let me go if I had told you before." Phoebe grabbed the photo album from the desk and then ushered Paige out on the balcony and closed the door behind them.

"You were right", Paige admitted, relieved to be outside Cole's immediate range, "We have been talking about it the whole week. That's why they sent me to make sure you are ok. Are you ok? Is he nice to you? Is he doing evil?"

"Everything is simply perfect", Phoebe smiled happily, "It feels like the honeymoon we never had. Cole is a real gentleman, charming, provident and all. He even went shopping with me and I know he hates it."

"Gentleman, ha?" Paige asked raising one eyebrow „But you really do look great", Paige had to admit, "I mean who wouldn't if she turned almost 20 years younger?"

Paige couldn't get over the fact the Phoebe had her juvenile body back. She had caught a glimpse at Phoebe's body when Cole had approached her before. "But Phoebe pays the ultimate price for it", she chastised herself immediately.

"Could you give this to Phila from me?" Phoebe asked and handed the photo album to Paige.

"What's this?" Paige asked and opened the album. Pictures of Cole and Phoebe happily smiling at different occasions greeted her. She browsed hasty through the pages.

"And is he doing evil?" Paige concentrated on the important things again.

"Honestly I don't know", Phoebe had to admit, "the time we spend together surely not. But it wasn't part of the bargain that he is good. I mean I can't demand from the Source of all Evil to not do evil."

"Which bargain do you mean?" Paige was intrigued.

"I asked him to spend my last days with me and he accepted. There were no other conditions from my side besides the safety of my family of course. His only condition was that it was away from you guys."

"That bastard", Paige cursed.

"Paige", Phoebe admonished.

"He just wanted to get you away from us", Paige complained.

"But he was right", Phoebe defended Cole, "It doesn't work between you guys and him. It's just not possible. By no means at all since he is the Source. So it was my decision too that it is for the best that I'm alone with him. You can tell them I enjoy every minute of it."

"I've seen that", Paige snorted sarcastically.

"So how are they all holding up?" Phoebe changed the subject.

"Quite ok", Paige said, "Of course it is the hardest for Phila, but Wyatt and Chris are there to help her through it. And of course Piper, Leo and me. Your Dad is quite a help too. They seem to have bonded very well the last days. We are all watching over her. I'm sure she will be ok. It is just a little bit much for her at the moment. Like seeing her father the first time, her mother running away with the Source, her mother dying.. you know."

"Yeah", Phoebe sighed, "I wished it could be different."

"Phoebe?" They heard Cole's voice from inside

"I better get going before he kills me", Paige said and it was no joke.

"Love you," Phoebe said and hugged her once again, before Paige orbed out quickly.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over lunch Phoebe had asked Cole about her pain. It still hadn't come back and Phoebe was anxious about what it meant. Cole had told her, that his spell to rejuvenate her had also taken away the pain and that it would last as long as she was with him. The answer had calmed Phoebe down.

But Cole didn't tell her the whole story. As he had told Phila, he wasn't a healer. He couldn't make pain go away just like that. He had just transferred it to another person.

A poor woman had made a Faustian deal with him some time before. The agreement was that she did whatever he asked, for a favour he had granted her. So he had approached her the first night Phoebe and him had spent on Maui and had told her that to fulfil her part of the bargain she had to endure Phoebe's pain.

The woman had been taken to hospital short time later, writhing of pain, but the doctors weren't able find any reason for it. So she had ended up under strong medication in a clinic for the mentally deranged.

The following night Phoebe was torn out of her reverie rather ruggedly. After some passionate lovemaking with Cole she fell asleep in his arms. As she woke up a short time later, Cole wasn't besides her. She got up and looked for him in the whole suite. He wasn't anywhere to be found. That was suspicious. She lied down again and closed her eyes, first trying to sleep than pretending to do it. She had to wait the whole night, since he didn't come back till early morning shortly before dawn. Phoebe recognized some strange smell when he flamed in, but it was gone quickly when he took off his clothes and slid into the bed behind her.

While waiting for him she had had time to think. She had been too lazy these last days. She had enjoyed the time with him and hadn't been thinking straight. A thing that happened all too easily when she was around him. She had to set her plan in motion if she was ever to succeed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cole was glad that as Source he didn't need much sleep. Some 2-3 hours a night were enough to keep him sane. He was having the greatest time with Phoebe. It was almost as good as in the time before she had known that he was a demon. But as he had learned early in his life, nothing came for free. Being nice, gentle and kind all day took its toll from him. The Source wasn't made for happy holidays with fun, love and laughter at all.

At the end of each day he got really tense and the urge to do something evil was almost overwhelming, even in Phoebe's presence. He couldn't risk attacking her. He felt like a powder keg ready to explode. Therefore, he sneaked out of their room as soon as Phoebe was asleep. She normally had a deep sleep and would not notice anything. Besides, she was very trustful in him this time.

He flamed to one of the many war scenes of the world, preferable one where they still fought with primitive weapons, swords, machetes and the like. Africa was always a good choice in this interest. He was able to sense where the greatest massacre was taking place and went straight there. Then he shape shifted into a native and took part in the combat. He released the evil energy from his body by slaughtering the enemies merciless leaving a trail of blood and dead bodies behind him.

Sometimes the humans figured out that something supernatural was going on and called for their voodoo priests and sorcerers. However, that did not bother him since they were not nearly powerful enough to harm or even stop him.

When he went back, he always replaced his clothes with new ones and did some spell to rid his body of the blood and body fragments before he slid into the bed, ready again for a day of fun and laughter with Phoebe.

Cole was working on a way to keep Phoebe alive and for himself. He had already thought about using a time loop. Phoebe would stay at Maui forever without knowing it, reliving the same day all over. The Only problem about that was that her sisters could figure this out rather easily. The Power of Three would still exist, even if he brought back a fake Phoebe corpse, and he would be found out quickly. Another problem was Phoebe's power of premonition. She had already defeated demons that had trapped her in time, because she got a premonition about the time loop. So he had to discard this idea.

Messing with Death was dangerous and until now, no one had succeeded with it or lived to tell about it. However, for Phoebe he was willing to take the risk.

tbc


	6. Chapter 6

**PROPOSAL **

Phoebe and Cole were having dinner at the seaside. The air was warm and a light breeze caressed their skin. They occupied a small table directly at the waterfront where you could hear the breaking of the waves below. Phoebe was wearing a fabulous long white dress that would have made look her innocent, if it wasn't for the deep neckline at her back and the high slit. She had pinned up her hair to emphasize her delicate neck. Cole contrasted her with a black suit and dark blue dress shirt. They had finished the meal and were sitting opposite of each other, staring into the others eyes. Cole's right hand rested on Phoebe's left hand on the table. Phoebe had been looking at their joined hands for some time.

"Do you still have your wedding ring?" Phoebe asked him out of the blue.

"Why do you ask?" Cole asked her interested.

"I was just wondering", Phoebe answered, "What you had done with it."

She looked down at her right hand. She didn't wear her wedding ring anymore. She had taken it off the day she had decided that she wanted a divorce. Cole wasn't wearing a ring either.

"I still have it", he admitted, "I could never give it away."

"So you have it in a secret box or something?" Phoebe investigated.

"No", Cole smiled and stretched his fingers, "Look closely."

As he said it a ring appeared on his ring finger.

"I have always worn it", Cole revealed, "It is invisible for everyone but me. You know it doesn't look good, if the Source still mourns his charmed ex-wife after she left him, blackmailed him into a truce and took his heir with her."

"Sounds like a devious ex-wife", Phoebe teased. She moved her hand to touch his wedding band with her fingers tenderly.

"I was so happy then", she said sadly, "I thought we were meant to be. That we could have forever."

"We could have made it work", Cole answered. "You just didn't have enough faith in us to try." There was a trace of anger in his voice but it faded quickly to resignation.

"I haven't worn my wedding band in years", she continued, "but I took it with me when we left the manor last Saturday."

"Why did you take it with you?" Cole asked intrigued, "I don't see you wearing it now."

"I thought, maybe, you would give it to me again?" she asked and looked at him inquiringly. Her fingers still fondled with his now visible wedding ring. He raised an eyebrow.

"What are you suggesting?" he asked not sure if he wanted to go the direction she hinted at.

Phoebe worked up the courage to talk openly.

"Cole, look, I know I divorced you. I'm still sure it was the right thing to do at that time. Now it is a different time with different circumstances. I'd love to marry you again." She looked at him expectantly.

Cole sat there totally perplexed.

"Did you just propose to me?" he questioned quietly not sure he had heard correctly.

She could hear his voice tremble. Cole's eyes searched her face for an indication if she was serious or just playing games with him. He waited patiently for Phoebe to answer, since she didn't look entirely sure of what she had said.

"You don't want to?" she asked crestfallen with her little girl's voice. Big brown eyes staring at him. She took her hand back, sat back in her seat and looked down on her hands playing with her napkin.

"Phoebe", he addressed her to make her look back at him, "you are sure about what you just said?"

"Why don't you give me an answer?" Phoebe asked haltingly.

"You absolutely took me by surprise, Phoebe", Cole answered back, "and I'm not sure you comprehend the implications of your question."

"I thought it was a simple question that can be answered with yes or no", Phoebe insisted slightly irritated now.

"That's exactly what I thought the first time I asked you", Cole reminded her with a smile, "and you know how long it took you to give me an answer. I almost had to die."

"That's not fair! Bringing this up against me", Phoebe complained, "and by the way – I'm prepared to do the dying part as well", she shot at him.

"That's not what I meant or want", he reached for her hand and kissed it.

"I'd love to be your husband, again", Cole confirmed, "But what's the point of it? Why is it so important to you? We are together now. What will be the difference if we say the vows again?"

"It makes all the difference in the world, for me!" Phoebe cried out and got up to run away from him.

He darted after her and had caught her within some steps, cradling her in his arms. She allowed him to do so. Their quarrel had attracted some attention from the other guests. They were now staring at the couple standing in the middle of the room.

"Honey, I'm sorry" he cooed, "I didn't want to upset you, I'm sorry."

She leaned into his embrace and a small smile played on her lips, but she didn't let him see it. She then looked up into his eyes, which where full on concern. She almost had a guilty conscience for her little game with him.

"So this means yes?" she asked tentatively. He wiped her tears away with his thumb and looked at her seriously.

"Yes", he murmured and bent down to kiss her.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

PREPARATIONS 

Phoebe had asked Cole to hand over his wedding band to her. She had given him her wedding band in exchange. In doing so they both could present the other with the ring at the wedding ceremony.

Phoebe had prepared her own wedding band and needed to do the same with Cole's.

By chance Phoebe had found out that something was wrong with her wedding band. She hadn't worn it in all those years for some good reason. Every time she had secretly slid it on her hand, at nights when she had missed Cole the most, she had had a foreboding. Not a real premonition where she could see something but dark shadows moving who meant ill. That had freaked her out and she had taken the wedding band to church with her one day. She had given it a try and had let it fall into the basin with holy water. The reaction had startled her. The basin had sizzled and steamed until all the water was gone. She had tried another basin, but this time nothing had happened. To be on the safe side she had a priest bless it for her too.

To not raise any suspicions she had told Cole that she wanted to confess her sins to a priest before their wedding. Cole couldn't disapprove of that. She would take his wedding band with her and have it blessed like her own.

Phoebe and Cole had debated about the kind of ceremony should take place. A white wedding with church and priest was out of question for Cole. Not even Phoebe was able to talk him into that, even when she had tried hard using all her female persuasion.

Cole's suggestion of going to Las Vegas had detested Phoebe. They had pondered the idea of a wican hand fastening, like Piper and Leo had done. But Cole wasn't thrilled to go through with a wican ceremony. He wasn't sure what that would do to his powers. Besides they would need a high priestess for it and Phoebe wasn't eager to inform her family, let alone Grams about it.

In the end Phoebe had come up with the idea of a Native American wedding ritual comparable with a hand fastening, but no wican background. Some years ago she had helped a Native American woman with some magical problem. Since then she had stayed in contact with the medicine woman called Inra, exchanging knowledge about magical stuff.

Phoebe had suggested to Cole that she call Inra and ask her if she could conduct the ritual for them. Cole hadn't objected to it so Phoebe called Inra right away.

Inra had been thrilled that Phoebe wanted to do a Native American Wedding. She immediately suggested that she ask the council of tribe elders, who had to allow for strangers to be married in their sacred way. Phoebe had been running up and down the suite agitatedly until Inra had called back some hours later to inform Phoebe that it was going ok. The tribe could be ready in three days to conduct the ceremony, and Phoebe and Cole should arrive there the afternoon before. Inra also told them that their taboos demanded that Phoebe and Cole stayed celibate from this moment until they were married. Normally every couple would have to go through 28 days – one full cycle of the moon - without seeing each other in any way. Phoebe had emphasized the urgency of the matter and so the elder's council had allowed for a shortened period. Cole hadn't been amused.

On the agreed day Cole flamed them to the nearest airport next to the reservation. He asked her about her appearance, and what her friend would say, seeing her 20 years younger. Phoebe didn't want to give up her juvenile looks. She was sure that Inra was ok with it, she would tell her it was a misguided spell that made her look like that. After all Inra was well aware that Phoebe was a witch.

Inra picked them up at the airport. She was a tall slender woman in her 40ies. Long straight raven black hair fell openly down her shoulders and she had the typically bronze skin complexion of her race. She moved smoothly and confidently attracting glances from the men around. She wore some blue jeans, cowboy boots and a light brown leather jacket over a white blouse. She had an open smile and twinkling dark brown eyes which searched the arrivals for her guests.

Phoebe recognized her immediately and headed in her direction, but Inra needed some seconds to get over her shock to meet a very young Phoebe. Then they greeted each other cheerfully. Phoebe introduced Cole to Inra as her fiancé. Phoebe then shortly told her secretly the story of a wrong gone spell, which Inra bought with raised eyebrows but without comment.

As they walked to the exit Inra eyed Phoebe's fiancé closely. He sure was a real hunk. Maybe that was the reason Phoebe had cast the spell, Inra speculated. A man like that wouldn't waste a second look at a woman in hers respectively Phoebe's age.

She wondered if Cole knew that Phoebe was a witch. And that led to the question if Cole knew how old Phoebe really was and what she really looked like. But this wasn't her concern. They all climbed into Inra's pick-up truck and she drove them to their camp.

They arrived at the camp in the afternoon. The whole tribe containing of around 30 people at the moment, was around to welcome their guests. Phoebe enjoyed a high social prestige with the tribe since she and her sisters had helped Inra out of a very hazardous magical situation. It only added to Phoebe's reputation that she appeared as her younger self. As it was common sense at the tribe, only a very powerful medicine woman would have the power to do such an enchantment. And as their code of conduct claimed it was not to be spoken about magical things in the open.

Phoebe greeted each tribe member personally and thanked the elder's council for their admission. The young women peeked at Cole and he flashed them his most charming smile. Hey, he was just the human finance of the great witch. He enjoyed the show and the pitiable humans who didn't have the faintest idea who was walking amongst them.

After they had finished the welcome Inra led them to her tepee. Since it was summer there was no fire burning inside but through the open at the top some light came in. An old man sat in the twilight inside, smoking a pipe. Inra introduced him as Akiketuk her father, member of the elder's council and also chief shaman of the tribe. He would be the one to explain the wedding ceremony to them.

He really looked weathered. Uncountable wrinkles spread over his face, with a hooked nose and sharp black eyes. His grey hair was in a braid and fell down to the floor. He wore a deer leather jacket, trousers and moccasins. Around his neck was a cord which held apparently his medicine bag. They shook hands and sat down on some blankets on the floor.

Akiketuk had experienced a strong magic presence the moment they entered his tepee. It made his hair stand on end. He knew that Phoebe was a witch, and of course his daughter was a very capable medicine woman, but there was something else. He looked at Cole enquiring.

His daughter hadn't told him anything about the witch's fiancé. He was sure Inra had told him, if she knew anything.

So he had to assume that he was human. The fiancé of the witch looked completely normal, at least at first sight. He wouldn't let go of it anyway. He had enough time in the upcoming cleansing ritual to examine this matter further.

Cole was oblivious to Akiketuk´s staring. He had made himself comfortable on the blanket and was only half listening to the explanations of the old man. The whole wedding was nothing but a joke to Cole. Please, to get married by some Natives, probably dance around a fire. He had to suppress a chuckle. At least their first wedding had some dark style. Phoebe really had strange wishes sometimes. But it was Phoebe and Phoebe got what she wanted, at least from him. She could always wrap him around her little finger if she liked to.

As Akiketuk went on to explain the wedding ceremony Cole was torn out of his musing.

"You are kidding, right?" Cole asked Akiketuk, "I'm not spending a whole night in a lousy tent without sleep waiting for dawn to come and then crawl up a mountain to marry on top of it- Please that's such a cliché." He shook is head vehemently "You have watched too many westerns."

"Cole", Phoebe called him to order irritated and slapped his hand, "We have decided to go through this ritual together. Inra's tribe was so generous to allow us to participate in it. Please honour that." She was very embarrassed by Cole's outburst and her cheeks were blushing.

Cole looked at Phoebe defiantly but didn't say anything again. He wasn't going down that road again – thank you very much. The scene in the restaurant two days before had been enough for him for some time.

Inra had to stifle her laughter at the look on Cole's face. It was obvious that this wedding ceremony had been Phoebe's idea and he was just playing along. Phoebe surely had this guy under her thumb. Actually Cole had made the impression on Inra, that he was a man who didn't like to be told what to do. So why was he acting so obediently towards Phoebe? Would Phoebe go that far to put him under a spell? Inra wasn't completely sure, Phoebe wouldn't do such a thing. She was a passionate and spontaneous woman. So if Phoebe had fallen head over heels for this man, who knew what she would do?

Regardless of their bickering Akiketuk carried on with his explanation. He was going to spend the night with Cole in the men's tepee while Inra would prepare Phoebe in the woman's tepee. The couple would be separated at dusk and be given together in matrimony at dawn. Akiketuk and Inra were to conduct the sacred rituals needed to prepare Phoebe and Cole for it.

Shortly after Inra led Phoebe towards the women's ceremonial tepee. Cole stayed with Akiketuk. He said nothing just sat there and glowered at the shaman.

tbc


	8. Chapter 8

**RITUALS **

The old man looked back at Cole curiously. Normally Akiketuk could read the intentions of people, it was one of his gifts, but this man was like a dark impenetrable shadow. He couldn't get the smallest hint of what was going on behind those blue eyes at all. That made him curious and alerted his senses. It shouldn't be that way if the guy in front of him was a human without any magical abilities.

Akiketuk motioned Cole to follow him as he got up and left the tepee. A young man was waiting outside the tent. Akiketuk talked with him in their language then the man nodded and went away. They walked along a small path deep into the forest. They had been walking quietly for some 30 minutes when the woods opened at a small lake. In the clearing stood a small wooden hut. Cole was already tired of the game. Without Phoebe by his side his evil energy was reboiling. Next to the hut were some piles of wood. Akiketuk motioned Cole to carry some of them inside the hut.

"You are a hell of a talker you know", Cole said testily, he wasn't used to be ordered around by anyone, let alone some old toothless jerk.

"You only talk to put someone down", Akiketuk answered, "I prefer quiet to that". He vanished into the hut.

Cole grumbled but snatched some of the logs and carried them into the hut. He only had to get through these 12 hours. After that Phoebe would be his and they would leave this freak town to never come back. He threw the logs in the middle of the hut and stood watching Akiketuk. For some time neither of the men said a word nor changed his position. The old man had sat down on the ground and stuffed his pipe thoroughly. The twilight of dusk was changing into total darkness since the moon hadn't risen yet. The woods started to come alive with the noises of the night. Cole couldn't see Akiketuk anymore at least not with his human senses, with his demonic vision he could see as well as if there was the brightest daylight. So he was sure Akiketuk couldn't see him. He moved noiseless right next to the old man.

"What are we going to do now?" he whispered suggestively into Akiketuk's ear.

He had expected to scare the shaman but this one answered with an even voice

"You should light a fire. The first step in the ritual is to cleanse you. Therefore you have to sweat."

Cole was puzzled. Maybe he had underestimated the shaman? Maybe the old man had some powers and had figured out he wasn't a mere human. Cole wasn't sure if he should reveal his demonic nature to Akiketuk. What if he then refused to marry him and Phoebe? This surely would come down to another temper tantrum with his bride to be.

"Some matches anywhere?" Cole asked. He could have ignited the whole hut with a single fireball.

Akiketuk threw a match box in Cole's direction. Cole caught it easily and then froze. Akiketuk couldn't have seen him. He had only thrown the matches directed by Cole's voice.

"You have the eyes of a wolf", Akiketuk declared smiling at himself that he had outsmarted Cole, "I didn't hear the matches fall to the ground."

"I was just lucky", Cole answered lightly.

He crouched down and worked on lightning the fire. Some time later the hut was lit up by the dancing flames of the bonfire. Cole took a closer look at the interior. The whole inside of the hut was lined with skins, so that the smoke and heat could only escape through some small loop at the top. The ground was bare soil. The temperature in the hut was rising fast. Cole was sitting nonchalantly against the wall opposite Akiketuk, the fire between them. The shaman was smoking his pipe contently observing Cole with his sharp black eyes.

"What if I don't sweat?" Cole teased and raised an eyebrow, "can I go then and have a good nights sleep?"

"You will, just be patient", Akiketuk answered confidently, "I've done this ritual many times. Haven't met a guy yet who wouldn't drench in sweat in the end."

"I guess you haven't met anyone like me before", Cole boasted.

"So what's so special about you? Will you tell me?" Akiketuk asked.

"No", Cole answered, "I figured you like to discover things yourself. I won't spoil you the fun."

With that their conversation ended and both men stared into the flames. After an hour or so Cole really started sweating. Even if he was accustomed to the temperature of hell, the hut was blazing hot now. Cole cursed and took off his shirt, shoes and socks. His trousers were glued to his legs. Sweat was running down his chest in broad streams. Akiketuk threw him an amused smile. He still wore his full clothing and didn't seem bothered at all. From time to time he threw some herbs into the flames, which consumed them hungrily.

"You don't have to be embarrassed", Akiketuk said, "you should take off all of your clothes. It belongs to the ritual. You have to be as naked as the day you were born. It is a sign of the transition you are going through. From bachelor to husband. You won't be the same after that."

Cole looked at Akiketuk unbelievingly. "I don't think I will undress in front of you."

"Are you afraid or a prude?" Akiketuk challenged, "I didn't think the man of Phoebe would be either".

He knew Cole was a proud man and wouldn't allow him to be called a coward. Cole looked at Akiketuk hard and then got up, ripped open the buttons of his jeans and pushed them down together with his pants. Then he threw both in the corner of the hut.

"Satisfied?" Cole smirked at Akiketuk, who just nodded his head slightly.

Cole perched down next to the fire. Without his clothes the heat was bearable.

Cole started pacing around the hut, the heat didn't help his energy go away; instead it amplified his yearning to do evil. With a groan he whirled around and cast a fireball directly at Akiketuk. The shaman reacted in an instant. He snatched his medicine bag and deflected the fireball directing it back at Cole. Cole caught his fireball with one hand and let it hover over his palm casually.

"Impressive old man", Cole said looking expectantly at Akiketuk, "Why don't you tell me about your powers".

Akiketuk's breath came quickly. He had been on the watch otherwise he wouldn't have stood a chance in deflecting the attack. But still he had underestimated Cole. He had thought the maybe he was a sorcerer but now he wasn't even sure he was a human. Thank goodness he had sent his son away in the afternoon. It was good he always trusted his instincts when it came to magic. He had to figure out what Cole exactly was and what he wanted with the witch. Surely the witch wasn't aware of the nature of her fiancé.

"Evil spirit", he breathed.

"Please stick with Cole", Cole said patronising.

He enjoyed that at last the old man wasn't so sure of himself anymore. Good. He hadn't liked his all knowing attitude. What did the shaman know at all compared with him?

"That wouldn't be the name your fellow spirits call you." Akiketuk said.

"I don't have fellow spirits", Cole said, "I command them."

He summoned a second fireball in his other hand, playfully juggling them. "And my name is none of your business", Cole closed the matter.

It was dangerous to give your true identity. Only with your true identity was the other side able to come up with vanquishing potions and the like. That was why the sisters always and at first had wanted to know from him which demon had attacked them.

Akiketuk watched Cole carefully. He couldn't hope to escape or deflect more than one of the fireballs. He was too old and much to slow for fighting an evil spirit of that power.

"Does Phoebe know who you are?" Akiketuk asked.

He knew it was dangerous to interrogate Cole, since he seemed to become more and more agitated by the minute, but Phoebe had helped them and it was his duty and honour to repay her for her help.

"Don't you ever stop?" Cole yelled angrily and let his fireballs smash to the ground left and right of Akiketuk. The shaman had his medicine bag ready but hadn't moved. If he tried to escape one fireball by jumping to the other side he surly would have been killed by the second fireball. Cole's eyes had turned pitch black. Akiketuk couldn't help but shudder under Cole's dark and merciless gaze.

"Either you are really cold blooded", Cole chuckled, "or just so old that you don't react quickly enough."

He had already summoned two new fireballs, this time he threw them into the bonfire.

"I've got to get out of here", he said fidgety then turned to the shaman and commanded with a low voice, "If you want to live to see the dawn I recommend you don't tell anyone. Stay here and wait for me. I'll be back in short time. We will finish your childish rituals then so that I can have my wedding." With that Cole flamed out of the hut.

Akiketuk sat waiting in the hut. He didn't dare to oppose Cole. He knew the spirit would find and kill him or even his family or tribe if he ran in to the woods to get help. He wondered what Phoebe knew about her fiancé. She was a powerful witch and had the gift of premonition. Could the spirit have fooled her? It had seemed that the wedding had been Phoebe's idea, so probably she didn't know. Why would she want to marry such a dangerous creature?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phoebe followed Inra to the women's tepee. It was situated some minutes into the woods in the shadow of a big rock. They entered the tepee to be greeted by a crackling fire. The inside of the tepee looked very cozy. The ground was covered with blankets and furs. Some pots with unknown liquid in them stood right next to the fireplace. Three of the women who had welcomed Phoebe where sitting around the fire. They were chatting animatedly. One of them invited the newcomers to sit down in the circle. Phoebe felt a little uncomfortable as she didn't know what she had to expect from the Indian rituals. She played unconsciously with the ring on her thumb; it was Cole's wedding band.

"What are we going to do until the morning?" Phoebe asked Inra. She had to arrange for her next moves.

"We will start with a cleansing ceremony to prepare you body and soul, sing some sacred songs to strengthen your spirit and later ascend the summit. The women here will give you some sisterly support, since you are here without a family. That's the official part", Inra said, "and we will have some fun talking shit about men", Inra winked. The other women smiled at Phoebe.

"I don't want to cross you", Phoebe apologized, "but I have to leave for some minutes. I have to spend a penny. I hope that is no problem?"

"No, of course not. We have plenty of time", Inra answered, "just be careful not to get lost in the woods, will you?"

Phoebe slipped out of the tepee quickly and strode into the woods to the other side of the big rock. She leaned against it and searched for something to write in her bag. She found a peace of paper and a pen. She started to scribble busily. The light was fading quickly now and a creepy darkness was crawling in from all sides. As soon as Phoebe has finished writing she whispered urgently "Leo, Leoo"

It took only some seconds, but it seemed like hours for Phoebe, before Leo orbed in. He looked around. He wore some blue jeans, trainers and a blue sweater.

"Phoebe!" he exclaimed and closed the distance between them. "Where are we?" he asked incredulously.

He hadn't expected to orb into a dark forest at night. He had been prepared to meet Phoebe in a fancy suite on Maui with Cole at her heels.

"Are you all right? Where is Cole?"

He had to find some sense in the event. But the white lighter in him prevailed over his astonishment so he quickly scanned Phoebe for any injuries. Relieved he noticed that she was ok.

He looked around for a sight of Cole, but couldn't see him. After the story Paige had told them about her encounter with the horny couple it was better to look out.

It was dark already. If he hadn't been standing right next to Phoebe by now he would not have seen her.

"Sch be quiet Leo", Phoebe said in a hushed voice, "nobody must know you are here."

That statement from Phoebe was unsettling. "What is wrong?" Leo asked.

"I tell you in an instant, but not before you give your sister-in-law a hug", Phoebe demanded. Leo smiled at her and embraced her affectionately.

"As good as it is to see you, I don't have much time. They think I'm peeing. Let me explain and please don't interrupt me. Questions later" Phoebe babbled, "I have to chant a power of three spell tomorrow exactly at dawn. The problem is my sisters must not be near me. So here is the spell."

Phoebe handed the piece of paper to Leo, who took it curiously.

"I guess Cole doesn't know about this?" Leo asked. In fact it was more a statement then a question. If Cole was supposed to know about it, Phoebe wouldn't be all alone in the middle of a dark wood in the night.

"Of course not Leo, the spell is about him", Phoebe confirmed his suspicion, "I'm trying to protect our family. If the spell works it will prevent Cole from coming after you guys when I have passed away. You know as well as I do that the truce is probably going to end the day I kick the bucket."

Leo nodded. He had been thinking about the same thing since they had learned of Phoebe's illness. He wasn't sure his family could withstand a full force attack of the Source after the Power of Three was gone.

"I'm trying to spare my daughter the pain of fighting against her father or worse to be turned to the evil side", Phoebe explained herself.

"I understand", Leo confirmed and put the spell securely in this pocket.

"You have to make sure, Paige and Piper chant the spell at exactly the same moment as I do", Phoebe insisted, "and you have to guarantee that they don't come here. It would spoil all my efforts."

She knew that Leo would have a hard time in preventing her sisters from coming to her rescue.

"How should we know the exact time you say it?" Leo asked.

Synchronizing the chanting of a spell over a distance from some thousand kilometers didn't seem like an easy task to him. Besides they had to hide it from Cole at the same time.

"We use my mobile phone", Phoebe took Leo by surprise, "I say I lost it in the woods if someone asks."

Leo was confused. Should her sisters call Phoebe to do the spell together and how could that be hidden from Cole?

Phoebe took out her mobile and looked at the display. "I adjusted it to local time here, so you know what time it is."

The blue glow of the mobile phone looked rather displaced in the dark woodland. In the faint light Leo picked up that Phoebe had a ring on her thumb.

"Do you know the exact time of sunrise?" Leo asked. He didn't believe that Phoebe's plan was going to work.

"That's the problem", Phoebe sounded a little desperate, "nobody could tell me the exact time. They don't care about it, normally so am I." She gnawed at her lower lip for some time.

Then her features relaxed. "It's so easy Leo, why didn't I think of it before", Phoebe scolded herself, "I will put a spell on it."

She held the mobile in her hand and Leo heard some soft-spoken words.

"When Phoebe sees the first morning light, let the ringing guide her sisters to do it right."

The mobile glowed for the blink of an eye in bright white light. Phoebe was at one with the world and very proud of herself when she shoved her mobile in Leo's hand.

"Just remember to tell them they should chant for some 10 minutes or so, just to be on the safe side." She hugged him again and kissed him on the cheek, "Give a kiss to my daughter."

"I will, and Good luck Phoebe." Leo orbed out to carry on with Phoebe's plan.

tbc


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note:**

Thank you allso much for all your reviews - I really appreciate every single one of them - they make my day.

---------------------------------------------------

Cole flamed in the hut, still naked but covered in blood. It was obviously not his, because he had no injury on his body. He looked at the spot where he had left the shaman and was satisfied the old man still sat there.

"So I'm soaked now, just as you wanted me to be", Cole taunted, "I hope you don't mind it's not sweat."

Akiketuk held Cole's gaze and studied him. He didn't want to imagine what Cole had done to shed so much blood. The spirits eyes looked quieter now and they were back to blue. His moves were restrained. It looked like he had calmed down.  
Maybe the herbs that were meant for humans to cleanse body and soul had had a bad influence on Cole. In fact you couldn't clean an evil spirit of evil. Maybe this was the reason he had gone ballistic before.

"So what's next?" Cole asked all business.

"Now you should wash away the remains of your old self in the virginal floods of the river." The old man answered, "there is a small waterfall nearby we usually use."

Akiketuk shuddered at the thought that Cole was going to impurify their sacred spring with the blood of his victims. He would have to do some cleansing ritual for the spring itself in the next days – if he lived to do so.

"Well that fits me", Cole said, "I felt like having a shower. Show me the way."

They left the hut and marched through the dark woods again.

Cole was amazed how the old man found his way in the dark. Maybe it was one of his powers. He figured this was a good moment to find out what the shaman knew about him and Phoebe. He caught up to Akiketuk, grabbed him at the shoulder with one hand and held his other hand over his head reading Akiketuk's mind. From what he could see, Phoebe hadn't told the tribe anything about him, good girl.

Akiketuk was a little dizzy after Cole let him go but well aware the Cole had read his mind.

They reached the waterfall and Akiketuk instructed Cole to stand under the waterfall until he called him. The water was freezing cold and Cole's body started to feel numb. Cole was ready to be angry again when slowly a peaceful feeling was spreading out through his body. He watched this feeling incredulous. He had never felt so free. The pressure of the evil cravings that had haunted him all of his life was washed away with the fleeing water. A genuine smile spread over his face. He basked in this feeling until Akiketuk called him.

It was time to start the ascent to the top of the hill. Once out of the spring the dark ambitions started to flow back slowly poisoning Cole's mind.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The women were singing Indian songs accompanied with the sound of drums and rattles as Phoebe returned to the tepee.

"We thought you got lost", Inra welcomed her, "so we started singing to guide you back to us".

"A good thing you did that", Phoebe answered, "I really wasn't sure anymore which direction to turn to."

Phoebe noticed that the temperature in the tepee had risen intensely. A faint scent of flowers mingled with the smoke wavered through the air. Some of the women had pulled off some of their clothes and some had worked up a sweat already. She sat down in the circle and got rid of her jacket and her shoes and socks.

"What do we do now?" Phoebe asked. Her preparations were ready. All she could do now was wait for the unfolding of the events.

"I want to show you something", Inra said and pointed to the pots near the fire.

"The pots hold our sacred colours", she explained, "white represents the soul with its connection to the heavens and red stands for the body rooted in the world. You will use them to bind you to your man, body and soul, and him to you. It's a sacred bond that can't be broken easily."

"Somehow that's sounds very serious", Phoebe said doubtfully.

"You aren't getting cold feet Phoebe, are you? Inra bantered with her.

"Mmmh", Phoebe pouted, "I guess not. He is just too gorgeous."

Inra laughed and gave her a rattle, "Yeah we figured that out. I hope you are going to tell us some dirty things about him later. But for now we will sing some sacred songs together to strengthen and enlighten your spirit. Just go along with the rhythm. Free yourself of all thoughts, just explore your inner nature."

Phoebe allowed herself to relax and soon was hypnotized by the rhythmic beating of the drums and the dizzying rustle of the rattles. The muffled voices of the singing woman made her feel safe and the heat was intoxicating. She started to fall into a trance. Phoebe moved her body to the ancient tune that told about anticipation, excitement and love. The music became more agitated with each song and soon they danced ecstatically around the bonfire. So when the other women started to undress themselves she joined in. Whirling hair, soft skin and slippery bodies touched her as she moved between them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Akiketuk gave Cole a pair of pale deer skin trousers and some moccasins. Cole put them on and they started walking in silence. They weren't very fast, because Akiketuk was moving with difficulty. Cole played with Phoebe's wedding band that was on his small finger. The moon was up high now, so they could see the path to the summit rather well.

"Does she know?" Akiketuk had figured it would be safe to ask again. Cole had changed his behaviour considerably since he had stepped out of the spring.

"Yeah, she knows", Cole answered evenly.

"Are you blackmailing her into doing it?" Akiketuk knew he was bold, but he had to figure this out before they reached the summit. If he knew what was going on, maybe he could rescue Phoebe from a grim future.

"No, it's her wish", Cole said, "we have been married before, we have a kid. I hope to see my daughter more often from now on."

That struck Akiketuk like nothing else.

So Phoebe had a child with an evil spirit. Probably she hadn't known the first time she had married him. Why would she remarry him now when she had already been rid of him apparently? Akiketuk felt that something was wrong with Phoebe when they had shook hands. Her energy had been faltering and her intentions towards the ceremony hadn't been genuine. Since she had chosen the ceremony she had to be aware of the consequences. But why would she risk it? She had to have a really good reason. Maybe it was to assure that her daughter was safe from him? A mother's love was one of the strongest that existed. Was Phoebe sacrificing herself for her daughter? Dark thoughts plagued his mind as Akiketuk climbed the last metres of the hill.

Cole and Akiketuk reached the summit of the hill the moment the first sunray flickered over the horizon. The sun coloured the clouds with pink and orange fireworks. The woods ended shortly below the summit. The top of the hill was a grassy plain. A megalith was erected at one end of the plain. In front of the megalith Phoebe and Inra were already waiting for them. They looked towards east into to rising sun.

Cole stopped breathing as he caught sight of Phoebe. She wore a very pale smooth looking leather dress that followed every one of her curves. It fell down to her ankles as she didn't wear any shoes. Her hair was open and fell in slight blond curls down her back. Phoebe turned as she heard them approach.

Cole's appearance made her gasp. He was topless showing his tanned muscular upper part of the body, his hair looked still wet and a little bit ruffled, just as she liked it. Tightly cut trousers emphasized his slim waist and long legs. She couldn't see his eyes on the distance but she was sure he was looking as intensely at her as she was at him. She could tell that by the goose pimples that ran over her body. It was now or never.

Akiketuk still held on to his lame walking forcing Cole to dribble behind him. Cole was sure he did in on purpose. Phoebe started to walk towards him, but Inra grabbed her hand.

"He has to come to you", she reminded Phoebe, who stopped but looked longingly in Coles direction.

That was when Cole could wait no longer. He stepped forward and flamed out. Only to reappear in front of Phoebe a second later. She threw herself into his arms forcefully. Their lips found each other and they kissed fervently ignoring Inra's shriek of terror.

Inra broke away from her place at the megalith and ran towards her father. She talked upsettingly to him and they slowly came towards couple.

Phoebe looked radiant with joy and Coles face showed the genuine happiness he had experienced before under the waterfall. They had stopped kissing and were now standing close to each other. Cole had his arms around Phoebe and had placed his head on top of hers. They both stood with closed eyes. Phoebe listened to the steady beat of his heart.

Akiketuk had been prepared to call the ceremony off, regardless of the consequences for him. He wasn't going to send Phoebe to hell, not even for his own or his daughter's life. But the last minutes and the interaction of the couple he had watched, had confused him and his decision had begun to falter.

He had seldom if ever married off a couple that looked so much in love. At the same time he had never married off a couple that seemed so wrong for each other. It had to be fate. Good and evil were the both forming parts of the universe, in this spirit their union made perfect sense. There was no day without a night, no life without dead. The Asians called it yin and yang, it was the ultimate principle. He was thankful that it was not his decision. It was Phoebe's to make. And Cole's.

"Are you ready?" he asked them gently.

They opened their eyes and turned to him in front of the megalith. Phoebe nodded. As Akiketuk was standing in the dawning day, the night with Cole seemed just like a very bad nightmare. The man in front of him behaved totally different from the man who had tried to kill him. Or maybe he had just played with him, otherwise he would probably be dead by now.

"Please say your vows and exchange your rings. I will then call for the good spirits to guide you on your way", he instructed.

Inra stepped forward with one of the colour pots and held it out to Phoebe. Phoebe dipped her right hand into the white colour. She turned to face Cole and put her hand gentle over his heart. It made a white imprint on his tanned skin. She gazed lovingly up into his eyes and said her vow softly.

Cole held her gaze and smiled at her fondly. Phoebe took her right hand back and raised her left hand to pull Coles wedding band from her thumb. He offered her his right hand and she slipped the ring onto his ring finger. Her hands trembled slightly as she did it. Cole smiled at her encouragingly and Akiketuk nodded approvingly at Phoebe.

Inra stepped back and changed the pots. With the other pot she approached Cole and held it to him. He looked questioning at Inra. She just nodded and motioned him to do as Phoebe had done. Phoebe had already reached up to her neck and had unfastened her dress. The dress slid down to her waist. She wasn't wearing anything under it. With only a short hesitation Cole dipped his hand into the red colour. Now it was his turn to put his hand over her heart. The red colour left an imprint on her fair skin that looked like a raw wound. Coles said his vow as Phoebe had done before.

Phoebe smiled at him with relief. He had reused some of her phrases and with that unknowingly tied himself even closer to her. Cole pulled her wedding band from his small finger and took her right hand in his left. Gingerly he slid her wedding band on her ring finger. The moment the ring found its place he felt a strong shiver run down his spine. He looked startled at Phoebe and then Akiketuk and Inra. But neither had noticed it. Phoebe put on her top again, careful not to stain the fine leather with the red colour.

The couple held hands as Akiketuk called in his own language for the spirits to watch over and protect the newly weds. He used the strongest good bringing charm he knew and chanted them several times. Since they didn't understand his language he extended the normal wedding charms for some more blessings to protect Phoebe from the evil influence of her husband.

When he had finished he extended his hand first to Phoebe then haltingly also to Cole. They shook hands and discovered that the colour had already dried, since his hand stayed unmarked. Akiketuk took the second colour pot from the ground and left the clearing without looking back with his daughter who carried the other one. Phoebe hung on to Cole closely as they watched the progress of the sunrise as a married couple.

tbc


	10. Chapter 10

ALONE 

Phoebe was lying on the sun bed on the terrace bathing in the sun. She wore her dark sunglasses, brown shorts and a yellow tank top. Cole was out to get some food from her favourite Chinese restaurant – in Hong Kong.

They had come back to Maui shortly after their wedding. She had silently wished that she could go home to the Manor afterwards. But this wish was out of question. She had decided to go with Cole and there was no going back on her word. She wasn't bringing Cole to the Manor again. It was too dangerous. There was no way Cole and her family could coexist next to each other, with her too weak to hold them apart.

Since the wedding day she had felt increasingly weaker and without energy. She slept a lot but wasn't refreshed afterwards. So they had spent the last few days mostly in the suite with Cole fulfilling every wish she voiced. The biggest part of the time she had been sleeping and he had watched her anxiously.

"Delivery service directly from Hong Kong", Cole shouted from inside the suite.

"I'm here", Phoebe called back softly and took off her sunglasses. It took pains for her to right herself against the back of the sun bed.

Cole came out on the terrace, a big plastic bag filled with little boxes in his hand. He was smiling. But his smile lapsed as he threw one glance at Phoebe. He set the bag on the table beside him and then sat down next to her on the sun bed.

"What's wrong honey?" he asked concerned as he took her hand in his.

His eyes searched hers for an answer but the only thing he could find was her total exhaustion.

Phoebe faintly shrugged her shoulders, it was an effort for her to do so, "I don't know Cole, it's just like it was the last few days. I feel so run down."

"Wanna eat something?" he asked motioning to the bag on the table, "It will make you feel better. It smells really delicious." Phoebe just shook her head.

"I'm not hungry", she whispered, "I think my time is up." There was no point in denying the truth any longer.

He froze and looked at her horrified.

"That can't be", he breathed and with a stronger voice he declared, "I won't allow it".

Phoebe smiled weakly. He wasn't the person to surrender to anything. But this time he would have no choice. She knew it. She had pondered all options around this, it was just not possible. Her sister Prue had to learn this lesson the hard way.

"No one can defeat Death, Cole", she told him, "Not even you."

She smiled at him and squeezed his hand solacing. He looked so desperate, she could see his mind racing behind his brilliant blue eyes. He reached out to pull her in his arms and she leaned thankfully against his chest. She listened to his drumming heartbeat when the premonition struck her.

_Cole was standing in the living room of the Manor He wore the same clothes as he did now. His eyes were pitch black. He held a fireball in his hand and said something. Then she could see the person he was talking too. Piper! She looked determinedly back at Cole. Her hands flexed to blow him up. Phoebe's own dead body lay on the couch behind Piper. Cole threw the fireball at Piper who froze it and Leo started to orb them out. But they weren't quick enough for the second fireball. It hit Piper directly in the chest and she incinerated instantly._

Phoebe gasped. "No!" she exclaimed. Tears came to her eyes.

Cole knew that she had had a premonition. He had been shielding himself from her premonitions all the time so that she couldn't accidentally see something she wasn't supposed to. Just now he had neglected it. He had been so torn apart by his feelings of loss that caution had slipped his mind for a second. Interpreting her reaction he could guess it hadn't been a happy one.

"What did you see?" he asked cautiously.

Phoebe lifted her tear-wet eyes to his and said in a choked voice, "I saw you killing Piper. Today at the Manor."

He was stunned. So it happened much quicker than he had expected. It was inevitable that he killed them in the end. His own seer had given him the same information. He had preferred that Phoebe didn't know or at least didn't see it – literally.

"I'm sorry", he whispered and lifted a strand from her face. She didn't resist. He was truly sorry for her that she had to witness this.

"Don't do it Cole, please", she pleaded for her sister's life. She looked at him with her big damp eyes searching for the good soul she was sure he was deep inside.

"I can not promise anything like that", Cole answered her with regret, "It will converge to it in the end. It will be them or me." He voiced what both of them had known all the way.

"I don't want to be responsible for their deaths", Phoebe snivelled.

"You are not." Cole tried to console her. "They lived because of you. If it wasn't for you, Belthazor would have killed them years ago. If it wasn't for you, the Source would have killed them using the Hollow. If it wasn't for you, there would have never been a truce. You prolonged their lives."

"I can't see it your way", she answered back defeated, "but I'm too tired to fight about it."

She didn't want to fight with him in her last minutes. It wasn't her fight anymore, she had done all she could. She looked tenderly at him and he drowned in her eyes. The world ceased to exist. It was only her and him.

"I love you Phoebe, I always did, I forever will", Cole promised to her, "no matter what happens next". That had always been the one true thing between them.

"I love you Cole", Phoebe whispered and gave him a small smile. "I forgive you". Cole was relieved at her words. It seemed like she had finally accepted his true nature.

Phoebe rested her head heavily against his shoulder and took some breaths with great effort. The premonition had drained her of her last strength. He kissed her on the forehead and stroked her back gently as he cradled her softly in his arms. Her breath became erratic and shallow and then died away. Cole felt like he was ripped apart. It wasn't a physical pain, more an agony of his soul.

He felt a presence and looked up. Death stood next to him, reaching out for Phoebe. Cole jerked Phoebe's body away from Death's grasp.

"Take me", Cole offered desperately, "take me instead of her."

Death frowned,"When time is up, it's up. There is no bargaining with me about that. Your time hasn't come yet."

"It would be in the best interest of the greater good if you collected a bad soul instead of a good one", Cole tried to convince Death.

Death was annoyed by Cole's tenacity. "I don't care if the soul is good or evil", he informed Cole dryly, "That's none of my business."

Death reached for Phoebe again. A bright shining swirl arose from Phoebe's body and settled into his outstretched hand. Without a further word Death disappeared with her soul.

"Phoebe, don't leave me alone", Cole prayed barely audible," I can't go on without you."

He knew he was doomed. Without her love the last remains of his soul were going to be annihilated by the evil force pressing down on it. But Phoebe was gone. She would never answer him again.

He sat motionless on the terrace holding her tight until the sun went down and her body became cold.

tbc


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's note**

lilchick1989: sorry, guess you have to watch nip/tuck to see Julian naked ;-)

cursedgirl, sehar, littleone0822, sirus183:you don´t have to wait any longer for the next chapter, here it is. I hope to be able to update every few days ..

middnightblossom: Phoebe trusts Cole, but not the Source...can´t blame her for that

ColePhoebe4eva: To your reassurance, premonitions are not always what they seem to be.

shel: to be honest, I could´t let Cole come up with a plan of keeping phoebe young and healthy, since I needed her to die for my story. As to your hope Cole finding peace - for me Cole and finding peace never fits into one sentence.

So let´s find out what happens next...please stay with me an pls don´t flame me for the next chapters...

----------------------------------

SHATTERED

The mood in the Halliwell Manor was depressed. It felt like the whole world had stopped spinning and held its breath, as they were waiting for the inevitable – Phoebe's death.

The Halliwells were going on with their every day life but their minds weren't in it. They had to pretend to other friends that Phoebe was so bad, that she couldn't get any visitors. That just added to the stress of the family. Victor had stayed in the city in a hotel near the Manor to be there to support his daughter and grandchildren.

Piper and Phila roamed in the kitchen, deciding on what to cook for dinner. Cooking always relaxed Piper.

"I'll get my favourite cook book", Phila said and turned in the direction of the living room when she suddenly flamed out.

Piper saw the flames from the corner of her eye. She shrieked and ran out in the living room. Her heart was beating heavily.

"Phila! Leo!" she called looking around.

She feared that Cole had kidnapped his daughter. She wouldn't put that past him.

"I'm here", Phila answered from atop of the staircase.

She came down slowly looking a little bit disoriented, the cook book under her arm. Phila had to hold on to the handrail to steady herself.

"Are you ok?" Piper asked warily. She waited at the bottom of the stairs for her niece.

"I guess I just orbed?" Phila asked her aunt haltingly and frowned, "but how?"

"Oh honey", Piper gathered Phila in her arms, "you didn't orb, you flamed."

Phila's head jerked up. "What? But that's an evil power", she said.

"Piper, you called?" Leo said orbing in next to them, a nice smile on his face.

"Yes, Leo", Piper said brushing a kiss on his cheek, "we have a demonic problem." She looked at Phila who shuffled her feet.

"Please get the rest of the family quickly. It's an emergency. Meet us in the attic." Piper turned and ascended the stairs, Phila on her heels.

Piper went straight to the Book of Shadows. Phila sat down on the couch, she didn't know what was going on. But she could tell from Piper's reaction, it wasn't good. She had never been able to tap into her demonic powers since her aunts and mother had bound them even before her birth.

The Book of Shadows waited innocently on the altar. Piper closed it with shaking hands and looked at the cover. And she kept staring at it until the others orbed in.

"This better be good", Paige said, "I was with a charge who really needed my support right now."

She looked around and saw Piper's paralyzed face and Phila's desperate posture. "What's wrong?" she asked annoyed.

Piper looked up. Her eyes were teary and she had a forlorn expression in them. She waved Paige to her side. Paige was crossing the room as Leo and his sons orbed in.

"Have you been attacked?" Wyatt asked worriedly and looked from his mother to Phila.

Phila shook her head but didn't look up. Piper took the book of Shadows in her hands and turned it around so all could see the cover.

"Look at this", she said with a faint voice. The cover of the Book of Shadows had changed. The Triquetra was apart.

"The Power of Three", Leo whispered, "it is broken."

There was silence in the room for some seconds as comprehension dawned on them, what it meant. Chris eyes grew wide. Wyatt went over to Phila and sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Phoebe is dead", Paige said with a throaty voice. Taking her place on Phila's other side. She took her goddaughter's trembling hand in hers.

Piper nodded and said, "But it gets worse. Phila just flamed."

Wyatt and Chris looked at Phila doubtfully. Paige threw Piper and Leo a distressed look.

"You sure she flamed?" Chris wanted to be sure, "maybe it was something else? Like an attack of a demon, a misguided spell or something?"

Phila shook her head again and looked at Chris. There was fear in her face.

"I wanted to go to my room to get my cook book", she explained, "and suddenly I was up here."

"Can you do it again?" Chris asked. He had to see it with his own eyes to believe it.

"I don't know how to do it willingly", Phila whined.

"Just concentrate on the place you want to be. Throw aside all other thoughts", Paige instructed while stroking Phila's hand encouragingly. They had to be sure about what was going on if they wanted to stand a chance to come out of it alive.

Phila closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. She imagined herself standing at the other side of the attic. Suddenly she flamed out and in again, exactly where she had imagined herself to be. She swayed a little bit and Chris orbed to her side to hold her up.

"I thought you three bound her demonic powers?" Wyatt asked his mother.

He didn't like to see his cousin use demonic powers. No one knew which powers were unleashed in Phila and if she was able to resist their evil allure.

"That's right Wyatt, we THREE bound her powers", Piper emphasized the word three.

"That our power blocking spell is broken is another indication that Phoebe really is gone", Piper explained with a shiftless voice. "It's like it was with Grams. She had bound our powers too, but the day she died the powers came back to us."

Piper realized suddenly that she was the last one living, who remembered that day. The last one who remembered Grams and Mum in their lifetime. The last one who knew Prue. Her two sisters, she had grown up with, were gone and had left her alone. She felt very lost and alone suddenly. Leo sensed her emotional trouble and came over to cradle her in his arms. Grateful she holed up in his embrace.

Chris didn't want to add further stress to his family, but a disturbing thought had entered his mind. "The truce is also over", he stated.

Wyatt looked at him. "You are right little brother", he said, "that means the Source will soon came after us. In fact he could do it any minute now."

Wyatt felt that now that the Power of Three was gone, it was his responsibility to protect the family. After all he was the most powerful force good had at its hands at the moment.

Paige shuddered. "Boys you are right. I better go and get the crystals." She got up and moved to the closet that held their magical stuff, roaming in it for the box with the crystals.

"That's useless", Phila murmured as she watched Paige searching for the crystals.

Paige turned around. "What do you mean? We caught the Source in the crystal cage before. It is the only thing to hold him captive."

"It's not working anymore", Phila said stubbornly.

Piper pulled herself together. The family needed someone to lead them, and it was her obligation to be strong and look out for them. She stepped out of Leo's arms and went towards Phila where she crouched down in front of her niece.

"What do you know Phila?" she asked gently but firmly. The poor girl had a lot to digest, but timing was critical to their survival. She couldn't be too mellow with her just now.

Phila squirmed at her place. "I summoned him once", she started haltingly.

Her glance flickered over her family's faces. They all looked strained. She didn't want to disappoint them. They believed so strongly in her good side and she needed that urgently, to believe it herself especially at this moment.

"Not him!" Paige threw in. She hoped it wasn't the person she thought about.

"Paige", Piper silenced her sister, "Let her tell us what happened. Phila please go on", she encouraged her niece.

"I summoned the Source once. I can tell you he scared the wits out of me", Phila eventually confessed.

Seeing her family's disapproving faces she hastened to go on, "I used to crystal cage to trap him, like you guys had told us before. He really appeared inside the cage and it glowed and I was sure it would hold him."

Phila had started babbling. That reminded Piper so strongly of Phoebe that she had to wipe a tear from her eye secretly. Phila had stopped with her story. The memory of that meeting with the Source still gave her the chills.

"What happened next?" Leo urged her to continue.

"He just stepped out of the circle and the crystals fell to dust", Phila said. "He said something about same old tricks or so. I don't remember that part so well, because I thought I was about to be toast", Phila winced. She hadn't been as brave as she wished she had been.

"He didn't attack you?" Wyatt asked in bewilderment. The Source had had a witch defenceless in front of him and hadn't taken advantage of that? So maybe blood really was thicker than water.

"No, but he scolded me for being careless in summoning a demon", Phila disclosed. Piper threw a surprised glance at Leo.

"Shit", Paige cursed. "So our most powerful protection against the Source just failed. We have to come up with something …quickly." She put her hands on her hips and scanned through their magical stuff again.

"In any case we need new crystals", Chris stayed practical. "I'll go and get them from the Chinese market."

"Paige will go with you", Piper ordered, "Neither of us goes anywhere alone until we know how to deal with the Source." Chris nodded and orbed out together with Paige.

The others just sat motionless in the attic staring into space.

tbc


	12. Chapter 12

**Confrontation **

"Lets go down and I make us all a good cup hot tea", Piper suggested.

Nobody disagreed. They were too shocked by the revelations of the last hour. Phoebe dead. The Power of Three gone. Phila's demonic powers unleashed. The crystal cage useless. Had it ever looked so hopeless for the Halliwells? Piper doubted it.

They settled in the kitchen still silent. Piper bustled around with the dishes and teapot. How they could have used Phoebe's optimistic and creative nature right now. She surely would have had an idea or a premonition that could have helped them. Phoebe. New tears were forming in Piper's eyes. She wiped them away resolutely and hit the teapot on the stove violently.

"I should go up and tell the elders", Leo said. He didn't want to leave his family but he had to consult the elders on that matter.

"I don't like you going up right now", Piper objected and poured hot water into their cups. "Phoebe promised that Cole would bring back her body. I don't want to be alone with the kids when he drops in."

"I'm here to protect you", Wyatt said looking angrily at his mother. Why didn't she take him seriously?

"Wyatt, that's sweet and I appreciate it", Piper soothed her oldest son, "but you don't know Cole. In fact it was obvious that you hate each other. Your father has known Cole for some years and before Cole became the Source was kind of a friend to him. I hope we can use that to our advantage." She threw a hopeful glance towards Leo, which he returned only half-heartedly.

Phila hadn't said anything since they had left the attic. Her head hung low and she stirred her tea aimlessly with her spoon not listening to the other's conversation. A thousand thoughts and questions flooded her mind.

Her mother was dead. So she was kind of an orphan now, since her father didn't count as parent. Sure she still had her aunts and cousins but it wasn't the same. She didn't feel the same security she had felt before. Was she a demon now or still a good witch or both? Could you be both? It didn't work for her father being a demon and doing good. Could it work for her? Or would they kick her out of the Manor the moment her powers made her do something she didn't want? What were her powers anyway? She could flame. But had she inherited lethal powers also? How could she discover them and who could teach her to use them? Would demons sense her now and come after her?

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up.

"It will all be all right in the end", Piper tried to reassure Phila. She was in no way convinced by herself but she couldn't see her niece that devastated.

"Anybody home?" They heard a voice from the living room.

Piper recognized the voice instantly. So did Leo.

"Wyatt, Phila, you stay in the kitchen", Piper commanded. Leo and her jumped up and rushed to the living room.

Cole stood in the middle of the living room, the lifeless body of Phoebe in his arms. His glance was glued to her face. Phoebe's head rested against his shoulder and it looked like she was asleep. She was her old self again and a peaceful expression softened her face. Only the limp hanging arm indicated that something was wrong.

"Thanks for bringing her back", Piper said softly. She didn't want to upset Cole.

Cole tore his glance away from Phoebe and slowly shifted it towards Piper and then Leo. He looked at them but Piper had the impression he didn't really see them. It was like he looked somewhere in the distance, searching for something. He looked lost. Piper almost had pity with him.

Leo took some cautious steps towards Cole, just like he would approach a dangerous animal. He always looked at Coles face, trying to figure out what was going on behind his eyes. They were their human blue but Leo felt something dangerous lurking behind them, fighting to break free.

The two men stood opposite of each other looking at each others faces. Piper held her breath. Leo was much too close to Cole for her taste. Leo extended his arms to take Phoebe's body from Cole. Cole didn't react to that. His glance just went back to Phoebe waveringly. Cole wasn't ready to let go of Phoebe, he pressed her cold body nearer to his.

"Cole", Leo said with a calming voice, "you promised to bring her back. You did it. Now give her to us. That is what she wanted. We'll make sure Phoebe gets the funeral she deserves."

He waited patiently for a reaction from Cole. After what seemed like hours to Piper, Cole finally took a small step forward and laid Phoebe gently into Leo's arms. Cole stroked her cheek tenderly with the back of his right hand. Piper followed his every move, her hands ready to blow him up, should he go on the offensive.

That's when she spotted the ring on Cole's hand and frowned. Leo backed away slowly and set Phoebe down on the couch, her hands crossed on her tummy. Cole followed Leo with his gaze but didn't move. Leo sat down besides Phoebe's body and held his hands over her. He had to be sure she was dead.

Piper tiptoed next to her husband and looked down on her baby sister. Leo shook his head. Phoebe was really gone. Piper eyed Phoebe's hand for any rings. She found a golden one on her right ring finger. It looked like her old wedding band.

"Mum!" Phila's shrill shriek tore the silence.

Wyatt and Phila had sneaked into the living room behind Piper's back. Phila raced to her mother's side and fell down next to her, her head on her mother's chest. She started sobbing. It hadn't been real for Phila that Phoebe was dead, without seeing her dead body.

Cole's head jerked up, his expression flared and his eyes changed to pitch black. He threw a piercing glance at Phila. She didn't look at him but she felt him starring at her back.

"I told you to stay in the kitchen", Piper hissed but it was too late.

"So you have a new demon in the family", Cole sneered, "Congratulations!"

The lost look had gone from his face and had been replaced by a hideous grin.

Phila twitched like she had been whipped. The moment she had entered the living room she had felt dark energy waves whirling around. It was intoxicating and it lured her to its centre. And its centre was Cole.

Phila turned around and stood up facing him. His eyes gouged in hers and it felt like he read her mind and tore apart her soul, but she couldn't look away.

"I knew you would make a fine demon", he said contentedly.

"I'm not a demon", Phila said through gritted teeth,"and never will be." An energy ball formed on her palm. Leo, Piper and Wyatt looked at her disbelieving.

"Then you are the first witch with the ability to create energy balls", Cole informed her coolly. He put his hands in his pockets and strode to the other side of the room showing his back to her.

With a roar Phila threw the fireball at him. He didn't even blink. The fireball missed him by meters and smashed the grandfather clock. That made Phila even more furious and a new energy ball appeared already on her hand.

"If you need some instruction with your demonic powers, I will be happy to be of service", Cole offered generously, "Just come down. I guess you can sense me, all demons can."

He wasn't even the slightest bit afraid of her. He could easily sustain some energy balls – especially some low voltages ones like the ones his daughter had produced.

"Furthermore I can protect you. They can't do that anymore", Cole gestured to Piper and Leo.

Before Phila could throw the next energy ball, Wyatt orbed next to her, grabbed her and started to orb out with her struggling against his grip. Wyatt had guessed that Cole wanted to make Phila tap deeply into her demonic powers, so that he could goad her into following him to the Underworld. He wasn't going to allow that.

Cole reacted at lightning speed and cast a fireball at Wyatt. Only Wyatt's protection shield guarded him from being vanquished on the spot. Piper's reaction was as quick – she blew up Cole immediately, but he reformed within seconds, seething with rage.

"You made a grave mistake lady", Cole threatened Piper as he summoned another fireball.

Piper tensed. It was like a duel – the quicker one wins. She eyed him closely since she had to wait for him to start. She had to freeze the fireball first and then blow up Cole again so that she and Leo could orb out. Alone they stood no chance against him. So her timing had to be perfect. Leo grabbed Piper on the back to be able to orb them out instantly.

Cole hesitated. He looked undecided at his hand, ready to cast the fireball and then at Piper. His glance slid sideward to Phoebe and lingered on her face. Piper had to release her breath, which she had been holding unconsciously. What was he waiting for?

Cole's eyes went back to their normal blue and slowly he balled his fist to extinguish the fireball. His posture relaxed as he let his arm fall to his side.

Still looking at Phoebe he murmured, "That's the last time I obey your wish".

He glanced back at Leo and Piper who were standing next to the couch dumbfounded.

"About the funeral. Just leave a note about place and date at the mausoleum", Cole said with a tired voice before he flamed out without waiting for their answer.

tbc


	13. Chapter 13

**PLAN OF ACTION**

The arrangements for Phoebe's funeral took some days. Expecting her death Phoebe had already sorted her documents and had made a last will. The family arranged to lay out Phoebe at the local church, since there were many fans who wanted to bid her farewell.

The preparations for the confrontation with the Source took more effort of them, they had to figure out a way to defeat him. Paige had been furious when she had learned that Cole had already tried to kill Wyatt and Piper and lure Phila to his side. She had come back with new crystals from the market and a new idea about the cage.

The family gathered in the living room to discuss the next steps. Nobody liked to be alone at the moment, they didn't trust Cole to stay away until the funeral. For the time being, Phila shared her room with Paige and Wyatt and Chris also stayed in Chri's room. Paige had sent Matt to stay with Darrly for some days. She didn't want to have to worry about his safety. She had enough on her plate already.

"I talked with the old hag in the wiccan shop about possibilities of enhancing the effectiveness of the crystals", she told the family agitatedly, "and she gave me an idea that might work."

"Really? We could use some good news", Piper snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. The assault of Cole had left her frantically searching her mind the last days for a way to save her family.

"Yeah, that's very true. Now listen", Paige said as she had the attention of the crowd.

"What if we blessed the crystals with our blood? The Source vanquishing spell draws on the power of our ancestors. So why not draw power from our blood to strengthen the power of the crystals. What do you think?" She looked at one after the other.

"It sounds possible", Piper pondered the idea leaning forward in excitement, "Sometimes we use our own blood as ingredient to strengthen potions. So it should work on the crystals too."

"But how can we test it?" Chris asked and looked at Paige. He didn't want to bank their lives on a possibility, he preferred to be sure.

"I'm afraid we can't", Leo answered, "If we summon Cole or if he attacks there is no time for a tryout."

"Aunt Paige, I really think your idea is great, but I'm not sure it will be enough. From what Phila said, the Source just stepped out of the cage – he didn't even use magic for it. Do you think some drops of our blood will make a great difference?" Wyatt doubted.

"Maybe if we put the crystals not plainly on the floor, but put them on the edges of a pentagram", Phila contemplated. Since Cole had stepped out so easily from the crystal cage she had been reading about protection charms.

"You are a smart girl!" Paige exclaimed and jumped up, "that's it. We catch him in a pentagram which edges are protected by our blood and the crystals. I have a real good feeling about that". Paige was chirpy.

"That really could do the trick", Piper was not so quick to let go of her anxiety.

"I'm in it", Chris said, "let's bless the crystals. The earlier we are ready the better. Then we have to paint the pentagram – that leaves one question," He looked questioning at the others, "How do we get the Source to step onto it?"

Chris knew Cole wasn't a fool. He would recognize the pentagram and avoid getting near to it. They needed a really good distraction.

"First things first", Piper aligned them, "Now we do the blessing. Then we think about a way to put Cole in the centre of the pentagram."

Paige had called for the crystals. She took them out of the box and gave one crystal to everyone except Leo. Piper reached for a needle and pricked her finger. She let the blood drop fall on the pearly white crystal and chanted,

"Blood and Power melt to one – Multiply the outcome".

The crystal sizzled slightly but didn't change its colour or form. Paige looked at Piper doubtful.

"What?" Piper asked slightly huffy, "I can't rhyme. If you know a better spell –feel free." She leant back against the couch and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"No it's ok, I guess I have to get used to more bumpy spells", Paige soothed her sister.

Then she took the needle from her and blessed her crystal the same way Piper had done it. Chris and Wyatt followed suit. As Chris gave the needle to Phila, Leo darted forward and took it from her, before she could finish the task.

"Uncle Leo?" Phila asked taken by surprise by his agitation. She looked at her uncle with wide eyes. Piper wasn't pleased with her husband's action.

"Leo, we need 5 witches to bless the 5 crystals, since a pentagram has 5 edges", she explained impatiently.

"I understand that", Leo answered calmly, "but please think about the following. Phila is the only one of our family related to Cole by blood. What if he can exploit this blood link to break out of the circle?"

Piper saw the concern on his face and loved him for it. He was always so thorough in protecting his charges.

Phila on the other hand felt resentment towards Leo. She was as much a good witch as she had been before. She didn't want to be treated differently because through no fault of her own she was Cole's daughter. She shot Leo a hard glance. He recognized it and said.

"Phila, that's nothing personal. I just want to look out for you all. I think we have a good plan and it shouldn't fail due to carelessness and wounded pride."

"Now suddenly I'm not good enough anymore!" She accused her temper flaring as she stood up to face the family with flashing eyes.

Chris watched her in astonishment. Phila had always had a temper, but it had been worse the last few days. They had ignored it because they had assumed it was linked with Phoebe's dead. But now he doubted his assessment. Maybe it had more to do with Phila's recently awoken demonic powers.

"Phila, get a grip!" Piper called her to order with a firm voice. "That is not the way we talk to each other in this family. It has nothing to do with your demonic powers, simply with your relation to Cole. I won't allow you to endanger the whole family because of your childish pride. Now sit down again." Piper gestured heftily.

The family watched the scene with frayed nerves. Phila starred at Piper defiantly for some seconds. She had balled her hands in fists. Not because she was so angry, but to prevent the family seeing the small energy balls that had formed in her palm of their own will. She sat down on the couch again and hugged her knees with her arms and set her chin on her knees also. She was in a snit and looked at her feet.

"That leaves us still one witch short", Chris resumed the conversation, "don't we have some blood of Aunt Phoebe somewhere?"

"Chris don't be morbid. Aunt Phoebe is dead. We can't get blood from her corpse. Besides she can't bless the crystal anymore", Wyatt put Chris' idea down.

"Aunt Phoebe would happily chop off the head of her corpse herself if this would help us", Chris fought back at Wyatt stubbornly.

Phila looked at her cousins disgusted. Sometimes they didn't know when to stop with their bickering. But Paige noticed Phila's inconvenience.

"Boys, pay a little bit more respect to Phoebe, will you", she rebuked them with a look in Phila's direction. Wyatt and Chris followed her gaze and a guilty expression appeared on their faces. They nodded and hung their heads.

"The idea in itself hasn't been so bad", Paige realised, "Piper do you remember when we talked with Phoebe about storing potions so that we could defend ourselves?"

Piper nodded. They had talked about brewing potions upfront. In the following they had created a store of some 50 potion basics with Phoebe's help.

"Do you think we could use one of the potion basics for the blessing of the fifth crystal?" Piper asked intrigued. Paige was really inventive today, she had to grant her that.

"No, not exactly." Paige admitted, "I stored some pure blood of Phoebe at a blood bank." Paige pulled a face, "you never know what it can be good for".

Paige shrugged her shoulders. She had been sure Piper wouldn't be ok with that, so she simply hadn't told her. Piper blinked. Her sisters had pulled this one behind her back. She knew exactly why. She wouldn't have allowed it. But now maybe it was saving their butts. So she couldn't even pick on Paige for it.

"Go and get it", Piper grumbled standing up, "we will work on the blessing. Maybe the Book of Shadows can help. Chris go with Paige."

Piper, Wyatt and Phila went up to the attic. Leo orbed out to inform the Elders of their plan and maybe get some confirmation on the blood-enhancing-the-crystals-theory. Piper browsed through the book with Wyatt for some time but didn't find anything helpful. There was no spell or charm on the topic of a third person doing the blessing of another one's blood. Phila was still sulking. She sat on the couch and didn't take part in anything.

"It is plain useless", Piper shut the book violently a disappointed look on her face.

She was almost at the point to abandon their plan. She crossed the room and looked out of the attic window, her hands on her hips. She had to calm down. It helped them not at all if she chucked away her nerves. She took some deep breaths watching the innocent's life oblivious to any magical matters.

Wyatt looked at his mother. Normally she wasn't the one to give in so easily. It seemed that the loss of her sister had taken its toll on her in more ways than he had acknowledged until now.

He stroked the cover of the book tenderly. It wasn't the book's fault neither that the Power of Three was gone nor that the right spell hadn't been invented yet. Wyatt had always been very fond of the Book of Shadows. Even as small boy it had been his favourite reading matter.

"We could use a little help right now", he whispered to the Book.

He had watched Aunt Phoebe do this in the past from time to time. She had the unwavering faith that Grams or Great-Grams hovered around and helped out, when they were down on their wits. It would not be amiss if he tried.

"Hey", he cried out as the pages of the book started scrolling all of their own.

Piper turned around and hastened back to him. Even Phila got up and joined them curiously. They waited impatiently for the book to find the right page. Wyatt bent over the book to read out which page had been selected.

"To find a lost sister" he read aloud. He hadn't seen this spell before. It was funny with the book. Sometimes he discovered pages he could swear hadn't been in it before.

Piper shook her head. "The Book must be off too. Maybe it's not working properly without the Power of Three." She dropped shiftless down on the couch.

"What's wrong with the spell, mum?" Wyatt asked, "Maybe we should just try it out. The Book won't fool us."

"That is the spell I wrote to bring back your aunt Prue years ago", Piper explained a sad tone in her voice, "It didn't work then. Why should it work now?"

"I don't know", Wyatt insisted," but it surely means something. I'll try it – ok?"

Wyatt was eager to do something. He couldn't just sit around and wait. Maybe he had enough power to call Aunt Phoebe back.

"That's fine by me", Piper resigned, "You need my blood to call for my sister, Here."

She took an Athame and cut a small cut in her palm. She let the blood drop in a silver bowl and handed it to Wyatt. Wyatt received the bowl and then grabbed his mother's hurt hand. A faint golden glow emitted from his hand and her cut healed immediately. He smiled at her and Piper returned to the Couch where Phila had settled again.

Wyatt chanted the lost sister spell three times and waited expectantly. Nothing happened. He was disappointed.

"I felt a chill", Phila said unsure looking at Wyatt.

"Then lets try again", Wyatt suggested, "Phila help me. You call for your mother. Mum could you call for your sister? And I will call again for my aunt. "

Piper nodded tiredly and not convinced at all. She had this rustling of the wind when she had called for Prue. But it had been the only reaction. Regardless she stood up again to join Wyatt and Phila. Phila had spilled some of her blood in the bowl too and Wyatt had done the same. They took their hands, and Piper thought about the new meaning of the Power of Three.

They chanted the spell again three times. This time they got a stronger reaction. A grey fog appeared in the middle of the attic. It started spinning around itself and slowly formed in to a human like figure.

The greyish colour vanished and Phoebe stood in front of them. She looked disoriented and transparent. She wore a long white robe with long sleeves and was her younger self.

tbc


	14. Chapter 14

**Unexpected appearance**

Phoebe was baffled. She had been in a greyish whatever for some time. She had tried every spell she could remember to get out of it. But nothing had helped. She didn't know how long she had been there, because you couldn't tell. It was never night, never day, just this greyish surroundings expanding into infinity. She had thought it was a kind of limbo.

Now her eyes darted around. She was back in the Halliwell Manor. She recognized the attic in an instant and also the people standing there with open mouths. They didn't look much older than before.

"Do you see me?" she asked tentatively.

She wasn't sure they could see her, after all she was dead. Piper very slowly nodded her head. Wyatt smiled to himself and Phila just stared.

"Now is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she asked again.

"I'm not sure", Piper answered lamely. She could see right through Phoebe. That meant Phoebe was a ghost.

Leo orbed in discomposedly. He stood in front of Piper so he didn't see Phoebe at the attic.

"Piper", he addressed his wife, "I have to tell you something, but you have to promise me that you don't freak out".

He searched her face for an answer, because Piper's face looked rather blank. She looked at him.

"Every conversation you ever started with this sentence ends with some really bad news", she stated.

"I just was with the Elders", he motioned upwards with his head, "and they told me that Phoebe's soul didn't arrive in the heavens yet. They don't know where she is! If only I had gone up earlier" Leo chastised himself.

"Mmh", was Pipers only answer.

Leo was surprised that Piper's reaction was so not there at all. He grabbed her by her shoulders and said intensely "Her soul isn't up there that can only mean Cole has it."

Piper shook her head. She reached up to him and touched is jaw with her hands and softly turned his head over in the direction where Phoebe was.

"Hey", Phoebe waved a hand at Leo.

While Piper had been talking to Leo she had tried to go over to Phila but it didn't work. Hovering around was nothing like walking. She had tried to walk but was staying on the same spot. It was rather inconvenient. At least the waving part had worked.

"Phoebe?" Leo exclaimed with relief.

So his worst fears hadn't been fulfilled. If Cole had found a method to catch Phoebe's soul, he would have never forgiven himself for not looking out for her earlier.

"What did you do? I'm confused." Leo asked. He wasn't sure if he questioned Piper or Phoebe.

"I'm confused myself", Piper said, "ask your son. He did the spell."

Leo looked at Wyatt who squirmed under his father's glance.

"Wyatt, can you explain that?" Leo motioned towards Phoebe.

"I just did what aunt Phoebe sometimes did. I asked the book for some help. It opened at the lost-sister-spell. I chanted it once alone. Only minor reactions. Then we chanted it as a threesome and it worked." Wyatt was proud of his achievement.

"So you brought me back!" Phoebe exclaimed, "I wondered why it suddenly worked." So if she couldn't walk, so at least she could talk.

"I was in this greyish limbo whatever thing, trying to get out, but nothing worked so far. Then suddenly I was sucked out of it and appeared here in the attic." She said looking around scrutinizing everything.

"How long have I been gone already? It doesn't look much differently. You don't look older."

"You have only been gone some days", Wyatt informed her.

"Aha", Phoebe tried to process all the new information. "Did Cole try anything with you guys in the meantime?" she asked tentatively.

"You mean like trying to kill us?" Wyatt asked sourly.

Phoebe nodded, "Yes, something like that."

"Yeah he did. But we were lucky. It was by a hair's breadth."

"Shit." Phoebe cursed and crossed her arms over her chest, "something must have gone wrong."

"I agree to that", Leo said.

"Are ghosts allowed to curse?" Wyatt mocked Phoebe. She had always been his favourite aunt and he was happy that he had brought her back.

"I'm dying to know what exactly went wrong", Piper said pointedly looking at Phoebe, "what stunt did you pull this time?"

"Why do you always automatically assume that it is my fault?" Phoebe asked back. She wasn't the youngest sister anymore. Now it was Paige's job the endure Piper's wrath.

"It normally is", Piper said matter of factly.

"Piper we don't know what happened. You can't blame Phoebe in advance." Phoebe sent Leo a grateful smile for his intervention.

"Back from the blood bank", Paige cheered as she orbed in with Chris, "Sorry for taking so l…".

She stopped suddenly as she saw Phoebe's ghost in the middle of the attic. She let the plastic bag filled with red liquid fall to the ground. Chris caught it in the last moment.

"Where did she come from?" Chris asked stunned. He took the unit of stored blood with him and leaned against the attic wall. This was going to be interesting.

"I cast a spell", Wyatt bragged.

"We", Phila corrected him, pushing him in the rips.

"We are still figuring out what really happened", Piper said, "Please just listen for the moment. Phoebe just wanted to explain it to us."

Paige threw a confused look at Leo who just shrugged. She sat down in a chair and looked expectantly at Phoebe.

"Don't be mad at me, Piper", Phoebe pleaded with her puppy eyes.

"I know that voice Phoebe and that face you pull. You screwed up big time, didn't you?" Piper said smugly.

"I tried to protect you all from Cole!" Phoebe defended herself heatedly.

"So we are back to Cole?" Paige smirked, "anything new here"

"Spill it sister", Piper commanded. Piper held onto the altar firmly. Her hands got white under her tight grip.

"Ok Piper, just relax, ok? I thought long and hard about a possibility to protect you all from Cole. I knew the truce was going to end with me. Therefore I bound my soul irrevocably to Cole's."

"Are you out of your mind!" Piper shouted. She slammed her hands down on the Book of Shadows with such violence, that the whole altar shuddered.

"Never in your whole life have you done anything nearly that stupid!"

Piper was seething. How could Phoebe risk her undying soul for that lousy bastard?

"Still trying to save him from his deserved faith? Phoebe when will you ever understand that he is evil." Piper barked.

"That's not true!" Phoebe shouted back, "I tried to protect YOU!"

The kids stayed quiet. They had already learned that when the emotions between the sisters were running high, you better not get between them.

"Girls, Piper, Phoebe would you please calm down", Leo tried his whitelighter approach.

"Shut up!" both replied in unison.

They glared at each other for some time. Normally Phoebe would have turned round and stormed out of the room, but as she wasn't able to move by herself she had to endure Piper's rage. Piper took some deep breaths deliberately before she addressed Leo.

"Leo, you talk with her, I can't".

She strode past Phoebe without looking at her, back to her position at the window and looked out of it.

"Phoebe, what exactly did you do to bind your soul? Why did you do it and why are you sure it is irrevocably?" Leo asked softly.

"I married him again", Phoebe said lightly.

"You what!" Now it was Paige's turn to have a fit. "Come on Phoebe that was a joke right?"

"I'm sure it is not", Piper said sarcastically from the window. She remembered the rings on Cole's and Phoebe's hands.

"I needed to marry him to bind our souls. You remember the evening I called for Leo to help me with a power of Three spell?" Phoebe asked Paige, since Piper wasn't looking at her.

"It was a wired spell" Paige said, "I found it rather kitschy."

She remembered that particular night. Leo had been called by Phoebe and had returned some time later with Phoebe's Mobil phone and a crinkled piece of paper with a spell on it. He had told them only that Phoebe needed help with a Power of Three spell and that the Mobil was enchanted to tell them at what time they should chant the spell.

They had watched the Mobil the whole evening, during the whole night till the early morning. Occasionally they had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. The Mobil had awakened them. It rang and displayed "Phoebe".

They had rubbed their sleepy eyes and chanted the spell over and over again for some 10 minutes. There wasn't any indication afterwards that the spell had worked or what it was supposed to do.

"That was my marriage vow", Phoebe smiled proudly, "I formulated my marriage vow as a Power of Three spell that would bind me to Cole, if I touched him at that moment."

Piper was only shaking her head in denial.

"Did you have a priest or something?" Paige asked. She doubted that Cole had agreed to a white wedding.

"Not exactly. We were with a friend of mine, Inra. I think you know her. Her father is the chief medicine man of the tribe. He did the ritual for us. He is a powerful magician. I purposely choose this kind of ritual because literature said it was the best for binding souls."

"That's why you were buzzing around with all those books on witch craft lately", Phila noted.

"But something went wrong" Phoebe admitted, "Otherwise I wouldn't be here."

Finally Piper turned round. "So what did you expect to happen?" she asked. She was curious now.

"I thought that I would die and go to heaven. Since Cole's soul is bound to mine, his soul would have been ripped from his body, which would cause his body to die. You know that a human body can't live without a soul. Without a body the Source can't hurt you. It would have to find a new host and regain power over the host and the Underworld again. That surly would take some time. Besides I thought that maybe without Cole's knowledge of us and without a body, you could be able to vanquish him without the Power of Three."

"Great plan", Chris praised, "but there has to be a flaw in it".

"I think it has to do with the going to heaven part", Leo said, "the Elders expected her, but Phoebe didn't show up. This means entrance to heaven was not the problem. Phoebe do you have unfinished business you are aware off?" Leo asked.

"No, I think not. I was ready to go on". Phoebe said thoughtfully.

"I tell you what happened", Chris said, "since Cole's soul couldn't be ripped from its body for whatever reason, maybe it has to do with him being the Source, Phoebe's soul has to stay down here, since they are connected. The one can't go where the other can't follow."

"So I'm a ghost forever?" Phoebe asked fearful. She hadn't calculated this outcome

"No, we just have to rip Cole's soul from his body, then you should be able to go on". Wyatt said determinedly, "together we surely can do it."

"Wait big brother", Chris slowed him down, "For Phoebe to go to heaven, the Elders have to allow Cole go up there too. I'm not sure they are willing to do this."

He glanced at his father. After all Leo had the most experience in what the Elders did and why they did it.

"That's going to be a challenge. I'm not sure they will allow Cole up there for the sake of Phoebe. He is the Source. And it was her decision to bind their souls. She will have to face the consequences of that." Leo answered thoughtfully.

Phoebe turned to Paige curiously. "What do you need that unit of stored blood for?

"We are working on vanquishing Cole", Paige answered soberly, "Did Piper tell you that he already attacked us?"

Phoebe just nodded sadly.

"We can't vanquish him now", Chris discovered, "We don't know what will happen to Aunt Phoebe if we do it." He frowned thinking hard.

Piper's glance zoomed at her younger son. "You are right Chris. We can't risk vanquishing Phoebe's soul in the process. Damn it. Phoebe, why did you have to do this reckless thing?" She complained once again.

Chris was pacing the attic, deep in thoughts, ruffling his hair with his hand. Wyatt watched his brother warily. When Chris was in this mood, he normally came up with a hazardous plan. Chris finally stopped and looked at Piper and then Wyatt. His face showed sheer self-satisfaction.

"Mum, the date and time of the funeral is fixed?" Chris asked.

Piper nodded. "Yes, the day after tomorrow at 3 p.m. at St. Clair's cemetery. Why?"

Chris had already ripped out a sheet of a random notebook and scribbled down on it hastily. "I have a plan" he announced still writing and not looking up.

"I knew it. You have a plan!" Wyatt clapped his hands and smiled proudly.

His little brother was the best. It seemed he had inherited Prue's capable mind. Chris straightened up and put the note in his pocket. His family looked at him expectantly and he threw a glance at Wyatt. He loved it when his big brother complimented him.

"Don't jump to conclusions Wy, my plan still needs to play out the way we need it. I'll fill you all in on the details later", he promised. "Now we have to move fast. Our preparations have to be ready before Phoebe's funeral. Wyatt please join me. We have to deliver this note to Phoebe's dear husband". He smirked in Phoebe's direction.

"Phoebe you have to work on your ability to move. We need you to able to move around. Maybe you", he looked at Piper, "could call great Grams to teach her." Piper gave him a sceptical look.

"I'm sure Grams wouldn't blow our cover", Phoebe said confidently, "and I sure need some help with this whole ghost thing. But Chris", she whined, "give us some hint what you are up to". She tried to tease out something of Chris. But he just shook his head and turned to his father.

"Dad, I need you to find 6 Whitelighters who won't sell us out to the Elders. They won't be in any danger. And please don't let the Elders know yet we have found Phoebe's soul."

Leo was intrigued what Chris' plan was but as Chris didn't want to share it right now so he just nodded.

"Aunt Page, please finish the crystals with Phoebe. We will need them."

He stepped next to Wyatt and the brothers orbed out together. They could hear Wyatt's voice fading away "Come on little bro, tell me.."

tbc


	15. Chapter 15

**FUNERAL**

It was a rainy dark Saturday afternoon. The rain poured down in heavy torrents and dark clouds roamed the grey sky. Dense mist hovered around the cemetery and made the mood even more comfortless. Nonetheless many people had come to Phoebe's funeral to pay her the last respect. A colourful array of umbrellas was spilled over the churchyard contrasting with the grim mood of the weather. It seemed the heavens itself were crying for One of the Charmed Ones.

The family stood around the open grave, surrounded by friends, Phoebe's colleagues, innocents the sisters had saved and companion witches from other covens. All wore black clothes and Matt, Leo and Darryl were holding the umbrellas for the sisters and Phila. Wyatt and Chris shared an umbrella of their own. Despite the dark day Piper and Paige wore sunglasses to hide their eyes. The service had been finished and now the priest was giving his last blessing on the casket. Then there would be the speeches of the family and friends.

Chris pushed Wyatt in the side and motioned towards the back of the crowd. A lone figure approached them slowly. He wore a black coat and had a single red rose in his hand. He had no umbrella to shield him from the rain and therefore was soaked wet. The rain was running in floods over his face. So they couldn't tell if there were tears on his face. Cole stopped at the back of the crowd and stayed there glowering towards the Halliwells. They didn't greet each other nor did anything to show any respect. Chris and Wyatt just watched him cautiously.

Cole had approached the crowd cautiously. He had to be on the watch. Since he had attacked them at the Manor some days ago, he had been working on a plan to get to them. He had missed his chance to get Piper because Phoebe had asked it from him, kind of a last wish. He hadn't been strong enough to disobey that then.

The funeral was a good chance, but there were too many people. Hell, even a reporter taking pictures was around. He couldn't do anything right now. He had to wait. Eventually the crowd would leave later on.

To not raise any suspicions he had glamoured his appearance to look the age he would be if he was human. Some grey streaks marked his temple and some artificial crinkles showed on his face. There was a good chance that in the crowd was someone who recognized him as Phoebe's ex-husband. He wasn't listening to anything the priest said. He wasn't interested in the long list of good doings the priest announced, it was rather boring.

He had come to the funeral to finally end this chapter of his life. He would bury his human self today together with Phoebe's body. This day was a turning point for him. Like meeting Phoebe had been. He would turn back to his evil self completely – the only thing pulling him away from it gone. He looked down at the blood red rose in his hand blinking several times. There was no need to get mushy now.

He looked around the cemetery waiting impatiently for the priest to finish his ritual. The mists swirled around the gravestones creating the impression of creatures creeping around. Suddenly a movement caught his eye. He concentrated on the spot in the distance. Had the mists fooled him or had he had a glimpse of a body moving back there. He felt a cord inside him vibrate. That in itself was wired. Since Phoebe had died, he hadn't felt anything. The human feelings had left him that day. He had never expected them to come back.

Since the service didn't seem to be over soon he decided to have a closer look at the mysterious phantom. Better anyway than standing dully in the rain listening to the rant of the priest and the sobbing voices in the crowd.

He strolled slowly over to the gravestone where the motion had been and looked around. The ghostly figure had moved towards the mausoleum – his mausoleum. He couldn't make out more then the outline of it, but it seemed to be human. That in itself was strange. Since he had been there collecting the note on the date of the funeral, no one had been there. Who should be there anyway? There were no other living relatives of the Turners and the Halliwells knew better than to stick around his place.

He opened the door to the mausoleum, which had been locked, with a wave of his hand .So the figure had to be something magical, since it seemed it had entered the mausoleum without opening the door.

Silently and very alert he descended the stairs. It was dim down there, like it was night, only a torch was lit. He stopped at the last step and searched the darkness with his demonic sight. He felt that something was in there. Some kind of creature. It was only a faint energy signature, but it was there nonetheless.

And he knew it. His heart stopped beating for a second as he recognized who it was. It was the same moment as he saw her standing in front of the tomb of his father.

"Phoebe?" he asked hoarsely not daring to move. How could she be here?

She turned round and kind of floated towards him not touching the dusty ground. He could see his father's tomb right through her. That was when realization hit him. She was a ghost!

"Cole", she whispered quietly with a hollow voice.

"What are you doing here? I saw Death take you." Cole was glad to see her but he needed to know what had happened first, so he kept his distance. Ghosts only stayed in the living's realm if they had a reason for it.

"I don't know", Phoebe said helplessly, "He lost me somewhere, I lost him. It was so confusing. I didn't know what to do and then thought of the mausoleum. I thought that someone would come here eventually and find me."

"Why didn't you go to your sisters? To the Manor?" he asked suspiciously. The Halliwells always turned to family first. The only one coming to the mausoleum was him.

"They are burying me at the moment", Phoebe motioned upwards to the cemetery, "I didn't want to give them, especially Phila false hopes and cause them even more pain. I am gone. It can only be some mistake that Death left me behind. I'm expecting him to pick me up anytime." She looked around like expecting Death to appear any minute.

"When did you arrive here?" he wasn't convinced she told him the truth, so he was on guard. He knew that someone of the Halliwells had been here not long ago to deliver the note.

"Actually only some minutes ago", she answered evenly, "I had to get used to this disembodied existence first – not easy. I couldn't move, I didn't know where I was. But then I felt somehow drawn to this place. Maybe my own requiem called me – who knows." She shrugged her shoulders and looked at him hopefully. "Can you help me?"

"To do what?" intrigued he stepped down to the ground and took some steps towards her. He had sensed no other presence in the room so he felt save to go nearer.

"To find peace, to go on", she said a sorrowful expression on her face. "I tried to call Leo but it seems he can't hear me anymore."

Phoebe had particularly emphasized the word Leo. That had been the signal for her family. Suddenly Cole was surrounded by orbs.

"What the hell..!" He cursed when the whole Halliwell family appeared around him. They simultaneously crouched down to put something on the floor and then backed away from him.

Cole tried to slip back into a corner so that no one was at his back. But as he took a step aside, the crystal cage lit up. He didn't stop since the crystals weren't a challenge for him anymore. But the cage violently pushed him back in the middle of the Pentagram sending a searing pain through his body.

He steadied himself and stared surprised at the crystal cage the held him captive. They had somehow improved the cage since he had appeared at their attic the last time. His glance fell on Phila. So she had told them about their meeting. He had miscalculated her. He had thought that she wouldn't tell anybody about it.

Phila was standing next to Chris. They had a slip of paper in front of them and had started chanting. Phila was concentrated looking down on the paper, while Chris watched Cole closely with hard green eyes. He seemed to know the spell by heart.

Cole tried to flame out of the cage, but it sent him back to its centre and the pain brought him to his knees. He growled deeply. Enraged he threw a fireball in Chris' direction, but it rebounded on the cage and almost hit him. His eyes flashing and turning pitch black he jumped up again, looking daggers at the sisters.

Phoebe hovered between her sisters watching Cole's futile attempts with a transfixed face. Wyatt stood behind her talking into her ear. She nodded gravely and then stepped back and into Wyatt's body taking control. Wyatt/Phoebe, Piper and Paige took their hands and started chanting the Source vanquishing spell.

Cole finally realized what they were doing. Phoebe had come back only to vanquish him. That hurt him more than the pain of the flames erupting at his feet or the stabbing pain in his whole body, like something tried to rip him apart.

"So it was all just a great deceit to get me." He finally comprehended, "the whole time you lied to me."

The realisation left him absolutely aboulic, his posture changed to one of total defeat. His head hung low, his shoulders sagged, his hands trembled and his heart felt like it was blown into a million pieces. Every bit of energy left his body. Despite the progressing vanquish the physical pain almost died out compared to the excruciating agony he felt by Phoebe's betrayal.

He turned his back to them so that they wouldn't see the pain twisting his face. He closed his eyes to shut out the world, stumbled and fell to his knees again. He had to put a hand down to not fall flatly on his face. He had no will left to get up again. He just waited for the ordeal to end.

Finally the flames engulfed him totally and a huge explosion rocked the mausoleum. The blast wave sent them all flying to the ground and the walls of the mausoleum cracked open and deep rifts ran along them.

tbc


	16. Chapter 16

**GOOD-BYE**

Chris coughed and sat up. He looked around for his family members. They were getting themselves together and slowly sitting or standing up. Nobody seemed hurt.

In the centre of the pentagram lay face down the motionless ghost of Cole, his body had apparently been consumed by the explosion.

"It worked", Chris announced satisfied.

"The Source is gone", Phila said touching a small cut on her forehead, "I don't sense any demonic energy".

Curiously they surrounded the figure on the ground.

"You can't kill a ghost with a blast, can you?" Paige asked. She kicked Cole's leg with her shoe to spur some reaction from him but it went right through.

"I'll go up and inform the Elders about what happened", Leo said looking at Wyatt/Phoebe. "Hopefully with the vanquish of the Source they take a lenient view on what you did." He orbed out.

"Since the job is done, I am back to Phoebe's funeral", Piper said, "Do you want to join me Paige?" Her sister nodded and together they orbed out.

Cole was dizzy and disoriented. From far away he heard voices but didn't understand their meaning. He opened his eyes with effort. It took some time for him to comprehend that he was still in the mausoleum. And worse, the Halliwells were obviously standing around him.

It was humiliating to be at their feet so he wanted to get up. But all he could manage was to turn over on his back. Shit. Now they were starring right into his face. Why couldn't they just vanquish him? Did they need to torture him endlessly? He tried to push himself up from the ground but his hands found no resistance. He looked at them.

"Great", he muttered sarcastically, "Now I'm a ghost."

He tried to concentrate on standing up. It finally worked. He crossed his arms on his chest and starred at the remaining Halliwells challenging.

"Looks like your vanquish didn't work all too well", he taunted.

"Quite the opposite", Chris proudly disclosed, „It worked exactly as I planned it."

Cole raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Care to explain that?"

Chris loved to gloat about his plan. "We needed to rescue your soul from the vanquish. Believe me – it wasn't easy to get Aunt Paige's agreement to that". He smirked.

"So Phila and I cast a spell to rip the soul from your body before the vanquish was complete. Phoebe agreed to lure you down here", Chris looked at Wyatt/Phoebe, "and onto the Pentagram"

"A Pentagram?" Cole scanned the ground of the mausoleum. That partly explained why the cage had been strong enough.

"Yeah we also strengthened the crystals. And some Whitelighters took our places at the funeral so we could come here without raising your suspicion. But the most important part was Phoebe possessing Wyatt so we could reconstitute the Power of Three momentarily."

"I understand." He had to admire their inventiveness. "I have to give you credit for that one. I never expected anything like that, and I'm not fooled easily".

"But what do you need me for? Why not vanquish all of me?" Cole asked leery.

Before Chris could answer him, Wyatt/Phoebe stepped closer to Cole. "I thought I could protect my family from you like that."

Cole glared hard at Wyatt/Phoebe. "You betrayed me. You used my love for you against me. You disgraced what we had", he growled becoming louder with every word and then turned away.

"Cole, let me explain!" Wyatt/Phoebe was stirred deeply. He tried to grab Cole's arm but got only air. "Damn ghostly existence", he cursed under his breath.

Cole turned around and said heatedly, "You lied to me all the time. Why should I believe anything you say now?"

Wyatt/Phoebe followed Cole to the other side of the mausoleum. "Just hear me out", he pleaded.

"Go ahead", Cole sighed reluctantly. He knew Phoebe wouldn't give up until she had said what she wanted to. "I preferred it if I hadn't to look at him all the time. Couldn't you just get out?"

Wyatt/Phoebe shook his head embarrassed. "I can't. I'm too nervous right now. I can't concentrate on getting out." He was fidgeting at his place.

"God", Cole shook his head in disbelieve.

"Cole", Wyatt/Phoebe started babbling, "It is true, I lured you down here today. You yourself told me that you couldn't spare my family after my death. I had to protect them from you. But I never lied to you during the last weeks. Everything I did and said to you was genuine. I married you not only to bind your soul to mine, I really wanted to be connected to you again."

He stretched out his hand to touch Cole's face but pulled back as he remembered that it wasn't possible to touch a ghost.

Cole wasn't placated easily. "Why bind my soul to you?" he asked impatiently. It annoyed him to no end to discuss these things with Wyatt.

"I thought your soul would be ripped from your body when I died", Wyatt/Phoebe admitted, "then the Source's powers would be weakened and my sisters would have a better chance of defeating it ..you.. whoever."

He gestured around helplessly then bent nearer towards Cole and whispered conspiratorially to his ear, "and you would be with me, forever, up there". He motioned towards the ceiling.

"Now that's sounds like a plan from Phoebe", Cole taunted nastily.

"What?" Wyatt/Phoebe asked offended.

"One that couldn't work." Cole teased more friendly. Admittedly the plan didn't sound so bad, but still it hadn't worked.

"Phoebe!" Leo's sharp voice attracted their attention. He looked worried and searched the room for Phoebe.

"Here", Wyatt/Phoebe waved at him ashamedly.

"The Elders are really mad at you. I've never seen them like that. We have to go up immediately. No more prowling." He stopped. "Why do you still possess my son?"

"Didn't manage to get out yet", Wyatt/Phoebe said meekly.

"Then get out now", he ordered. Leo closed the distance between him and Wyatt/Phoebe with some quick strides. He took Wyatt/Phoebe at the elbow.

Wyatt/Phoebe looked undecided from Leo to Cole. "Are we ok? Do you forgive me?" he asked Cole tentatively.

Cole gave a small smile. "Guess I shouldn't be the one being hard on you about lying."

He wasn't so bad off after all. She had created a chance for him to spend eternity not all alone but with her. Maybe even up there. Cole Turner was going to heaven – who would have thought of that?

"Out. Now." Leo repeated his command firmly, glaring at Phoebe.

"You don't help me relax, you know!" Wyatt/Phoebe complained wriggling his elbow from Leo's grip.

"Just one thing", Wyatt/Phoebe begged, "I wanna kiss Cole good-bye before we go." Wyatt/Phoebe looked expectantly from Leo to Chris and Phila. "Does someone volunteer to lend Cole their body for a minute?"

Leo and Chris shook their heads vigorously. Phila looked undecided. Finally she stepped next to Wyatt/Phoebe.

She looked at Cole anxiously. "After the kiss, you give it right back to me".

Cole nodded. "I won't hurt you or keep your body, I promise", he said kindly. But he would take the chance to get a glimpse of his daughter's thoughts.

"You are so sweet, thank you." Wyatt/Phoebe hugged Phila exuberantly.

Cole stepped into Phila's body with ease. Phila/Cole stretched her back and limbs like a cat.

"Strange to be in a woman's body", Phila/Cole acknowledged. She looked down her body a little bit confused.

"Prove that you are not mad at me anymore", Wyatt/Phoebe demanded and pulled Phila/Cole in his arms.

Phila/Cole shut her eyes firmly. Cole wasn't keen on looking into Wyatt's eyes while kissing Phoebe. It distracted him considerably from connecting with her.

For Phoebe it was new to be the taller part in the embrace and that she had to bend down to reach Cole's lips instead of tiptoeing. Also the tingling sensation not as usual all over her body but concentrated in her groins amazed her. How did guys manage to go through with any kind of foreplay if a harmless gesture as hugging tightly caused such arousal?

They shared a passionate kiss. Chris pulled a face. Watching Phila and Wyatt kissing fervently was simply disgusting. Leo concentrated on looking at the ground. He thanked god that Piper and Paige weren't here to witness this. They would have eaten him alive because he had allowed it.

"Prove enough?" Phila/Cole breathed roguishly as they parted, her eyes sparkling, cheeks blushed and her breath short.

"Mmh", Wyatt/Phoebe purred, eyelids fluttering and not wanting to let go of the comforting feeling of being close to Cole.

So that was the reason why the Elders were so uptight Phoebe thougt. Apparently if they can't touch they can't relax by being close to someone. Damn it – it looked like it was going to be a very irksome eternity.

"Finally!" Leo was enervated. He patted Wyatt/Phoebe on the back, "let's go." Leo had had enough of the delays.

Phoebe stepped out of Wyatt, who stumbled backwards, slightly nauseas. The kiss had assured her of Cole's love and forgiveness. With this solace Phoebe was ready to face the wrath of the Elders.

Cole stepped out of Phila and Leo grabbed Phila's hand in foresight. As soon as Phila had steadied herself Leo reached for Phoebe and Cole and orbed out with them wordlessly.

Phila looked at Wyatt very embarrassed. From his look she could tell he felt the same. He avoided her eyes deliberately. She had kissed her cousin in way she had never kissed a boy before. She felt overwhelmed by the affection Cole had been able to express in this single kiss.

Wyatt felt awful about the kiss. It had been very awkward to feel all the feelings his dear aunt Phoebe had for Cole. He didn't dare to look in Phila's direction. She surely had felt him become hard as her body had pressed against his.

"Hey guys, get over it already", Chris teased winking at them. "At least you learnt how to do a French kiss from the experts."

tbc


	17. Chapter 17

**EPILOGUE **

Phila was down in the basement for the first time in weeks. She sat on the stairs starring at the other side of the room. She wore her usual training top and tracksuit bottoms. She hadn't been training her martial arts the last weeks. She hadn't been strong enough to carry on with an activity that had brought so much joy to her and her mother. The memory still hurt too much. Now something else was disturbing her peace of mind.

Cole leaned lazily against the wall, his hands in his pockets and waited. He watched his daughter watching him. She hadn't moved for quite a while, she just kept staring at him. He mused about how he had gotten here again. Doubtless this was his personal hell. He had to grant it to the Elders, they knew how to punish someone.

After Leo had taken his and Phoebe's soul up to the Elders, heaven had been in turmoil. There had been endless discussions about him, about Phoebe, about their connected souls and possible solutions for that. The Elders had tried to break their connection but failed.

Phoebe had been very proud, he had been surprised and the Elders had been extremely pissed. He hadn't seen Phoebe since the day of the vanquish. They had kept them apart and threatened to leave it that way for eternity if one of them misbehaved. So there hadn't been much choice for him when Leo had informed him of the Elder's decision on what they expected from him.

So here he was. At the Halliwell manor. Again. As a Whitelighter. Shit.

You could call it quite a career. Demon – Human – Source of Evil – Ghost – Whitelighter. What next?

He moved his back muscles slowly. At least as a Whitelighter he had his body back. Being in a bodiless existence hadn't suited him at all. And to be honest, heaven had been dull besides the one encounter with Prue, which he wished to have avoided.

His task was to help his daughter with her demon heritage. Since no one could bind her demonic powers anymore, the Elders had the great idea that he was going to teach her to use and control them. For that he had to live under the same roof and get along with the whole family, who to be honest, were as unhappy with the situation as he was. Maybe even more. They had banished him to the basement after the initial shock and he wasn't keen on meeting them either.

Cole had never thought that the Elders were that slick. By making him a Whitelighter the Elders had killed two birds with one stone. They had gotten rid of him by sending him back to earth and at the same time had retained Phoebe up there. So they had managed to separate them. It worked since Whitelighters incorporated a part of heaven in them. So he theoretically was in heaven too and they weren't separated in terms of the soul-binding-spell. He hadn't understood it as Leo had explained it. The laws of white magic worked totally different than the dark magic he knew.

He looked back at his daughter. All he could do was hold out until Phila was ready to talk with him. As he knew the stubbornness of the Halliwells this could take quite a while. Additionally living with the Halliwells was a torture. They loathed him.

So even ending up in heaven meant hell for him. Another sarcastic joke of the universe at his expense. But for the small hope of being with Phoebe again in a distant future, he was ready to endure it.

The End

------------------------------

**Author's note:**

Many thanks to all my readers who joined our journey through this story, reviewed and by this motivated and encouraged me to finish it.

Great Thanks also to Barb my beta-reader for her great support.


End file.
